Telangana: Work on NH 63 hindered due to delay in land acquisition

A 132 kilometers-long highway between Mancherial and Nizamabad was sanctioned in 2017, at an estimated cost of Rs 5,354 crore. As many as 1,527 acres in 17 villages of the district were identified to be acquired for laying the road network

Mancherial: Work on the proposed greenfield National Highway 63 from Mancherial to Armoor in Nizamabad district is being hindered by inordinate delay in acquisition of lands required for the project for not just one or two years, but for eight years.

A 132 kilometers-long highway between Mancherial and Nizamabad was sanctioned in 2017, at an estimated cost of Rs 5,354 crore. As many as 1,527 acres in 17 villages of the district were identified to be acquired for laying the road network. The officials of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) invited tenders in January and the work was scheduled to be commenced in March.

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However, the work has once again been stalled with farmers securing High Court’s stay against the acquisition of lands in Hajipur and Luxettipet mandals with a deadline of a month. The farmers approached the court raising their objections to the process of land acquisition stating they would lose their livelihood if their lands were taken for the project.

Vodnala Shyamsunder, a farmer, said that their lives would be thrown out of the gear if the lands were acquired for forming the road network. He reasoned that the agricultural lands were their only source of income. He recalled that they had already given away their lands for construction of the Sripada Sagar project at Gudipet village.

The farmers contend that acquiring lands of farmers who had already lost lands to a project was against guidelines of the Supreme Court. However, officials concerned were not following the guidelines and issuing notifications to acquire the lands of the farmers by succumbing to pressure exerted by some public representatives for the vested interests of their followers.

The NHAI officials said that they would file a counter petition with the High Court soon. They stated that they were not against the interests of the farmers. They informed that the lands were being acquired after the state government gave its nod for the process. They added that a fair compensation would be extended to losers of lands.

Meanwhile, Modela Narapu Reddy, a retired civil engineer from the irrigation department found fault with the officials of the NHAI for altering alignment of the NH 63.

He opined the existing Mancherial-Luxettipet road could be widened instead of creating a greenfield highway that winds through valuable agriculture fields in Hajipur and Mancherial districts, saving huge amounts of public money.

The retired engineer wondered as to why the alignment was converted into a Greenfield highway which costs around Rs 5,000 crore. The new alignment would not only cause huge expenditure to the government, but also destroy fertile agriculture fields. If the existing stretch is widened, the government could save Rs 3,500 crore when compared to Rs 1,200 crore needed for laying the brown-field network.

Alignment altered thrice

Incidentally, the alignment of the highway was altered thrice following objections raised by the farmers. Initially, it was proposed that the right side of the existing stretch from Mancherial to Armoor would be widened under brown-field network. However, it was scrapped when some big shots reportedly opposed the proposal as their properties would be affected.

Then, an alignment was proposed along with the existing Mancherial-Armoor road. This alignment was changed as houses in Jagtial, Metpalli, Koratla, Dharmapuri and Luxettipet towns would have been demolished on a large scale as per this alignment. Another alignment was mulled passing through agriculture fields located on the banks of Godavari river in Luxettipet and Hajipur mandals.

Under the third alignment, officials planned to construct bypasses in towns and to lay the road from agriculture fields, drawing ire of the farmers. Farmers whose lands were acquired for the irrigation project in Mancherial district and flood canals and railway lines in Koratla and Metpalli in Jagtial district would be displaced with the advent of the road network.