The commerce and transport department has come up with a proposal to set up amenities along National Highways in the state for the benefit of travellers.
DoCT principal secretary Gagan Kumar Dhal said that the department has proposed to set up wayside amenities on National Highways for passengers, drivers and other people.
This would be of great help to the tourists, particularly those travelling long distances by road, he said.
These projects will be set up in coordination with various private promoters in the public-private partnership (PPP) mode, informed Dhal.
Now, wayside amenities are provided by the conventional dhabas, but they are located haphazardly near the Highways causing traffic problems. In fact, structured wayside facilities are not yet available.
One needs clean environment for a stopover after long hours of journey, said an official.The DoCT would identify at least five acres of land on the sides the NHs crisscrossing the state for developing parking places, motels, restaurants, resting place and shopping centres.
At least 12 places have been identified on the NH sides in which both six and four-laning works are in progress, said an official.
These locations are Phulnakhara in the Bhubaneswar-Chandikhol route, Sarwana on the Sambalpur-Bargarh route, Redhakhol on the Angul-Sambalpur route, Lahunipada on the Remuli-Rajamunda route and Ghatagaon on the Panikoili-Remuli route.
Similarly, projects like Chandanpur on the Puri-Bhubaneswar route, Basta on the Balasore-Laxmannath route, Barkote on the Biramitrapur-Barkote route, Khuntuni on the Cuttack-Angul route, Huma on the Girisola-Bhubaneswar route, Soro on the Baleswar-Bhadrak route and a place before the Kharsuan bridge on the Chandikhol-Bhadrak route are the other locations.
The firms which have been awarded contracts to develop these highways have been roped in by the DoCT for the purpose. Anjan Patnaik of SREI, Salil Mohanty of SJEPL, K Chattopadhyay of Ashoka Buildcon, Arvind Joshi of Abhijeet Road Ltd, Vijay Bhatia of Gayatri Projects attended a meeting for the purpose presided over by Dhal. National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) general manager AK Ray also attended the meeting.A well structured wayside amenities plan would be worked out and presented to the government for its approval, said an official.
