Hope springs for Rs 7,000cr outer ring road for capital

Bhubaneswar: Dream of a Capital Region Ring Road (CRRR) is inching closer to reality, with Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari recently announcing commencement of work on the project soon after Cabinet approval.

Proposed to be executed at a cost of around Rs 7,000 crore, the 111-km-long outer ring road will not only decongest the capital city but will also provide impetus to the socio-economic development of the region.

Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi had been making repeated requests to the Union minister, ministry and other top officials about the project's approval, including during the recent visit of Gadkari to Cuttack.

"I had the pleasure of delivering the welcome address at Bhubaneswar in honour of minister, GoI, Nitin Gadkari. I requested him for the Capital Region Ring Road, and he was kind enough to immediately announce the project worth Rs 6,933 crore for 111 km. I thanked him," Sarangi posted recently on X.

Gadkari announced in Cuttack that his ministry had approved a six-lane ring road for Bhubaneswar — following requests from Sarangi — to come up at an estimated Rs 7,000 crore. "The proposal has been submitted to the Cabinet. After Cabinet approval, we will certainly begin the project," he said.

The initial alignment of the ring road suggests that it will begin from Tangi in Cuttack, pass through Barapada, Rajabati, Govindpur, Shankarpur, Banki, Bandhahat, Haldia, Gonda and provide an exit at Rameswar in Khurda.

The road will bypass major busy areas, including Khurda town, Bhubaneswar, Athagarh, Cuttack and Choudwar. All the heavy vehicles that now pass through Bhubaneswar and Cuttack on NH-16 are likely to be diverted through the proposed ring road.

In addition, the works department, along with Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), is also developing an inner ring road, in a bid to decongest the capital city of heavy vehicles and regular traffic.

The proposed road will be around 64.9-km long. The inner ring road project is being executed in four phases, where the BDA is currently implementing the town planning (TP) scheme. Sources said that for the road project, land will be acquired from the TP scheme.

"Bhubaneswar is expanding rapidly, and it needs to be future-ready. The two ring road projects, especially the outer one, are necessary to decongest Bhubaneswar, which is steadily growing, especially on the corridor along NH-16 that passes through the heart of the city," Janmejaya Mishra, a resident of GGP colony, said.