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• The repair and widening of a crater-riddled NH35 stretch that connects Barasat and Bongaon in North 24-Parganas has hit a hurdle — Mamata Banerjee’s hands-off land policy.The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which had given a proposal to the state government for the four-laning of NH35 in 2006, is set to opt out of the project because of problems over land acquisition.“We shall not do it if enough land cannot be acquired for four-laning the highway,” said Anil Dixit, the project director of NHAI, Calcutta.The 60km stretch, maintained by the state public works department (PWD), is important because it leads to the India-Bangladesh border at Petrapole, the largest trade gateway between India and Bangladesh that accounts for 60 per cent of the total business volume of around Rs 8,000 crore.
• State government sources said the NHAI had included the four-laning of NH35 under phase III of the National Highways Development Programme because of its importance in boosting bilateral trade. The agency had also proposed the widening of NH34 (from Calcutta airport to Dalkhola in North Dinajpur) when it had submitted its proposal to the erstwhile Left Front government.“But Trinamul-led land protests prompted the Left government to inform the NHAI that acquisition was not possible for the widening of NH35,” a senior PWD official said.He said the NHAI had, however, gone ahead and engaged a consultancy firm to prepare a detailed project report (DPR). The survey could not be completed in the face of stiff opposition from local people, the official added.
• Now that Mamata has come to power and iterated her stand that the government would not acquire land, the central agency seems to have almost dropped the idea.Estimates suggest that a standard four-lane highway requires a road width of 45 metres. For the NH35 stretch, the NHAI has not even got the 30 metres required for a two-lane road. “If the highway stretch has to be widened to two lanes because of inadequate land availability, then the national highways department of the state PWD can do it,” Dixit said.The government, however, refuted the NHAI’s claim. “As they (the consultancy) could not submit the DPR, the NHAI could not ascertain the quantum of land that would be required for the project. That is why the NHAI never sent requisition for land. As we did not receive any request to acquire land, the question of acquiring land for the project does not arise,” said A.R. Bardhan, the state PWD secretary.
• The NHAI maintains five of the 15 national highways that pass through the state. They are NH2, NH6, NH31C, NH34 and NH41. The rest of the national highways are maintained by the state PWD.The PWD has come under attack in the past few months because of the condition of roads in the state. Mamata herself expressed dissatisfaction at the condition of NH34 during a 26km ride from Barasat to Writers’ Buildings on October 19. She had ordered immediate repair of the stretch between the airport and Barasat.Senior NHAI officials said NH34 needed expansion too because of its heavy traffic load.Problems over land acquisition had also come in the way of the four-laning of NH34. The government had then set up a committee to facilitate acquisition for the project. “We have already selected the bidders for the project. The process to acquire land has started,” Dixit said.

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