The work on extension of the Port Connectivity Road (PCR) from Sheelanagar Junction to the Anakapalle – Anandapur National Highway (NH-16) bypass road, has hit a roadblock due to the delay in handing over of land by the State government.
The proposed 12.7 km PCR extension connects to the new 6-lane NH-16 bypass road, under construction. The existing PCR meets the present National Highway bypass road at Sheelanagar. The PCR is meant to provide seamless connectivity to the heavy vehicles and containers from the National Highway to Visakhapatnam Port.
The goods imported by the port are carried to the hinterland by road through the NH network and those meant for export are carried from various landlocked states to the port for exports. The PCR offers a dedicated freight corridor, eliminating the need for heavy vehicles, carrying goods to the port, to criss-cross the city roads.
“A tender was called for work on the extension of the PCR in 2019. The contractor created problems and the State government had also not handed over the land to us. Therefore, the ₹172-crore contract was closed mutually,” Siva Sankar, Project Director of the National Highways Authority of India, told The Hindu , when the issue was brought to his notice.
“The Centre had initially given ₹100 crore to the State government towards land acquisition. They had disbursed the amount to the displaced persons. Subsequently, the Centre gave ₹72 crore to complete the land acquisition process. The State government has to complete the process and hand over the land to us (NHAI),” he said.
NH project hit
“We have decided to call for fresh tenders only after the land is handed over to us. Once the work on extension of PCR is commenced, it could be completed in two-and-a-half years,” Mr. Siva Sankar said.
Meanwhile, the six-lane National Highway project from Anakapalle to Anandapuram, scheduled for completion by July 2021, is likely to get delayed due to land acquisition issues at a few stretches. The progress of the work has already been affected by the two-month lockdown, due to COVID-19.
The ₹2,000-crore project is meant to decongest the traffic on the National Highway (NH-16) stretch, which now passes through the city between Anakapalle and Anandapuram.
“Joint Collector Venugopal Reddy is evincing keen interest in the project and has been inspecting the work regularly during the past few days. We hope that the pending land acquisition issues will be settled soon. If the land is handed over to us without any further delay, we expect to complete this project by October 2021,” Mr. Siva Sankar said.
