BHUBANESWAR : The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ (MoRTH) has approved the proposed alignment of a two-lane national highway connectivity over Chilika lagoon, a move which may jeopardise biodiversity of the largest brackish water lake of Asia.
The MoRTH has planned the 7.8-km connectivity with a right of way (RoW) of 75-metre over the wetland which is the missing link of Gopalpur-Satpada highway (NH-516A) under Krushnaprasad block in Puri district.
Two bridges spanning 3.55-km are proposed to be built over the lake as part of the connectivity, subject to environmental clearance and approval of the state government. The alignment approval committee (AAC) of the ministry has already cleared it along with the land acquisition plan, the sources said.
The approval, however, came nearly six months after Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announced the plan at a poll rally in Brahmagiri Assembly constituency during the last general elections in May. Gadkari had assured that the bridge would be built under Bharatmala project without hampering marine ecosystem.
The two-lane planned over Chilika, a designated Ramsar site, has drawn sharp criticism from environmentalists and conservationists who fear the lake’s fragile ecosystem and its rich biodiversity might face negative consequences of the project.
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has asked Ghaziabad-based Chaitanya Projects Consultancy Pvt Ltd, the agency entrusted for project report, to submit the drone survey along with the Project Appraisal and Technical Scrutiny Committee (PATSC) proposal by December 11 for further action.
