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Land Woes Hit NHAI: Will it Stop Work on NH 35?

  • The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is shifting gears. It is cutting its losses in areas where its work is being impeded by poor policy support, while pushing the envelope in areas like technology up gradation and user-friendliness, report CNBC-TV18’s Amrita Panja and Priyanka Ghosh.Land acquisition is the industry's old enemy and its latest target is infrastructure development, more specifically, the national highways.Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Raghav Chandra, joint secretary, NHAI said, “Land continues to be an area of difficulty and requires some extraordinary measures. Apart from resource allocation, people also need training in the land acquisition process.”
  • NHAI says that Kerala, Goa and West Bengal are the key problem areas. It warns that these problems may force it to abandon the NH-35 project in West Bengal, which was under NHDP Phase-III. The original plan was for a four-lane highway, but due to local resistance, it was changed to a two-lane road. Now, it will be handed over to the State Public Works Department, while the central government will continue to fund it.Anil Dixit, project director, NHAI, said, "The project will be handed over to the State Government." But even as NHAI deals with its many land issues, it is upping the ante by upgrading technology in its operations.
  • So what's on the cards?

-Complete ERP solutions for NHAI & Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.

- Complete ERP solutions for both NHAI and Minsitry of Road Transport and Highways, for seamless availability of information about road projects.

- GIS mapping of national highway networks for all available information that can be accessed on the net.

-Electronic toll collection system in PPP model entailing Rs 100 crore.

  • “It will provide seamless interconnectivity based on single RFID tag on the cars. The Nandan Nilekeni committee was helping us to design this with other committees and now we are taking it to the next level," Chandra added.The project is likely to be completed by 2013 which will replace cash tax payment at toll booths.

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