Kota-Jhalawar highway project ‘foreclosed’

September 17, 2013

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TNN |

JAIPUR: The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has “foreclosed” the proposed two-lane to four-lane national highway project between Kota and Jhalawar. The Ministry of Environment and Forests’ refusal had come some time back, but hectic parleys and requests finally failed to pave way for the project.

The state forest department had recommended to the MOEF that the project will involve felling of trees and will also run through the Darrah wildlife sanctuary and affect the tiger reserve there badly. Though tigers are yet to be relocated there.

The Darrah National Park – also called the Rajiv Gandhi National Park – consists of three wildlife sanctuaries of Darrah, Chambal and Jaswant Sagar. It was declared a national park in 2004 and is spread over a total area of 250 km. It is separated from the Ranthambore national park by another 250 sq km stretch of Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary.

Interestingly, after NHAI had frozen the alignment of the thoroughfare, the state government had declared the tiger reserve in Darrah.

The NHAI proposed a four-lane highway stretch of 88.06 km. Of the total, 54 km road alignment was impacting 273 hectares of forest cover. The NHAI had pleaded the state government to accord consent of the forest department for the past two years but in vain. “The project has been ‘foreclosed’ as the construction work on 70% of the proposed alignment cannot be taken up due to refusal by MOEF. Years of hardwork involved from designing to calling bidders has been waste,” said a NHAI official.

The project was announced four years back by the state government aiming to connect the major cities and to boost trade in Hindaun region.

The NHAI had treaded very cautiously and proposed the upgradation of the existing road from Kota to Darrah to avoid forest land.

Source-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/