NH-63 expansion crawls over land disputes in Telangana’s Mancherial

The NH-63 expansion between Mancherial and Nizamabad remains stalled due to land disputes and multiple court cases. Farmers and local residents have opposed realignment plans, forcing NHAI to suspend work while awaiting the High Court’s verdict and Cabinet approval

Mancherial: Expansion of the National Highway 63 between Nizamabad and Jagdalpur is progressing at a snail’s pace.

A 132-km six-lane greenfield highway between Mancherial and Nizamabad was sanctioned under the Bharatmala Pariyojana scheme in 2016 at an estimated cost of Rs 3,000 crore. Around 1,527 acres were identified for acquisition across 17 villages in the district for the project. The plan also includes constructing a high-level bridge parallel to the existing one across the Godavari and a bypass road between Gudem and Mulkalla.

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However, farmers approached the High Court opposing land acquisition for the proposed bypass that passes through agricultural fields in Gudem, Gampalapalli, Thimmapur and Pothepalli villages in Luxettipet and Dandepalli mandals. They sought the court’s intervention to alter the bypass alignment, citing loss of livelihood, and pointed out that they had already surrendered land for the Sripada-Yellampalli irrigation project.

Following this, the alignment of the bypass between Gudem and Mancherial was revised. NHAI officials then prepared a new plan to expand the highway along the existing road between Gudem and Mulkalla. But residents and business owners along the existing stretch objected to the new alignment and approached the High Court again recently.

The court has reserved its verdict and directed NHAI officials to halt further expansion work until orders are issued. The officials have filed a counter petition and are awaiting the judgment. They maintained that land acquisition could proceed as objections were raised over a 27-km stretch in Luxettipet mandal.

NHAI Project Director Ajay Mani Kumar said a proposal was submitted to the Union Cabinet committee a few weeks ago. He added that work would begin once the committee grants approval and expressed confidence that the High Court would rule in favour of the latest alignment.