CONRAD DIAS
Ranchi, April 2: The Ranchi-Bokaro Expressway, which is a part of the ‘Bharat Mala project’, will soon start the construction of its expressway from Ranchi to Bokaro, via Gola.
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has finalised the tender for its construction work to two different companies. This will be the first expressway of Jharkhand to be built in two phases.
In the first phase, the construction of the road from Ormanjhi to Gola has been taken up by a Gujarat company, M/s. N.G. Project Ltd. This road will be built at a cost of Rs 1,007 crores. The civil work is worth Rs. 647 crores in this phase.
Similarly, in the second phase, the expressway will be converted into a four-lane road from Gola to Bokaro. The contract has been given to Barbrik Project Limited, Raipur. Its construction will cost Rs. 1,214 crores, in which civil work will be worth Rs. 732 crores.
The construction of the entire road from Ormanjhi to Bokaro via Gola will cost around Rs 2,221 crore. With the construction of the expressway, It will become much easier to travel to Bokaro and Dhanbad.
NHAI officials have said that a target has been set to complete the expressway construction work in two years. However, in a month, the contract will be given to the concerned companies. The work is expected to start in five months.
The road construction from Ormanjhi in Ranchi to Gola and Bokaro will be completely greenfield. The NHAI has planned its construction from about one km ahead of the present Ormanjhi to Gola road.
Necessary land has also been acquired for this. Rs. 273 crore for the construction of Ormanjhi to Gola road and Rs. 406 crore for Gola to Bokaro road will be spent in land acquisition. Officials have said that the work will start as soon as 80 percent land is available. Around a total of 400 hectares of land will be acquired.
Apart from this, National Highway-75, which also comes under the ‘Bharat Mala Project’, will be a four-lane expressway from Kudu to Wyndhamganj, the border of Uttar Pradesh via Latehar, Daltonganj and Garhwa. Around Rs. 3,000 crore will be spent to make the road which will cover a distance of 203 km.
Image credit: Wikipedia.
