State to develop roads to cut down travel time to Digha

Kolkata: The state government has taken up road infrastructure development to cut down travel time to Digha and curb accidents on the way to this tourist destination.

The decision assumes significance as tourist inflow to Digha in East Midnapore is expected to increase further once Jagannath Temple construction is completed by mid-2025.

The road infrastructure development work involves a stretch of 82 km from near Nandakumar to Alankarpur close to the Digha gate. The first 25 km of this stretch upto Bajkul has already been completed. Another stretch near Nachinda upto Chaulkhola that stretches from 41 km till 65 km has also been constructed. The road has been widened into two lane paved shoulders of 10m width.

Nabanna sources said the two major works which will be undertaken in the 82 km total stretch will be 25 to 41 km from Bajkul to Nachinda and from 65 to 82 km (17 km) from Chaulkhola till Alankarpur.

The 25 km-41 km stretch was sanctioned and a tender was floated for selection of agency. The total project cost is Rs 470 crore for the brown field road.

The National Highway (NH) wing of the state Public Works Department is executing the project. “The work for the 17 km stretch will have a 7 km bypass road entirely green field and the rest of the existing road will be widened. This stretch is narrow considering the huge flow of traffic and is very much accident prone. The widening of the road to two lane paved shoulders of 10 m width is aimed at curbing road accidents,” said the official. He added that the estimated project cost for this 17 km stretch is Rs 834 crore.

The projects were sanctioned by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). The Centre will pay directly to the executing agencies after the construction as per the recommendation from the NH wing of state PWD.

The district administration in coordination with the Land and Land Reforms department is working on land acquisition for the project whose estimated cost will be around Rs 480 crore. An alternative bridge at Norghat on Haldi River is also in the pipeline for sanction.

The development in road infrastructure will complement the industrial prospects as the state government is planning a deep sea port at Tajpur, close to Digha.