Political blame game over coastal highway delay

Bhubaneswar: A day after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs cleared the long-awaited coastal highway project in Odisha — first conceived in 2015 — the BJD and BJP on Thursday exchanged accusations, each blaming the other for years of delay.Addressing journalists here, BJD vice-president and former minister Sanjay Kumar Das Burma reminded that Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari, during a visit to Odisha on July 9, 2015, announced plans for a 451-km coastal highway linking Gopalpur in Ganjam district with Digha in West Bengal.“After 11 years of delay, the Centre has now approved only two stretches—from Rameshwar in Khurda district to Konark in Puri, and from Konark to Paradip in Jagatsinghpur. The exclusion of Bhadrak and Balasore districts, covering the stretch from Paradip to Digha, has deeply disappointed the people of Odisha,” Das Burma said.The BJD alleged that repeated changes in the alignment, cancellation of tenders, and administrative neglect stalled the project. “Earlier tenders floated without financial approval were nothing but attempts to mislead the people. Environmental objections in the Chilika and Bhitarkanika eco-sensitive zones also created repeated hurdles,” Das Burma said.The BJP dismissed the charges, instead blaming the previous Naveen Patnaik-led govt. “While in office, the BJD govt was intolerant towards development. Though the Centre tried to finalise the alignment, the previous state govt had kept opposing it and refused to cooperate, which delayed the project,” said works and law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan.Harichandan further alleged that the delay was the result of a “conspiracy” by the previous govt. “After BJP formed the govt in Odisha two years ago, we expedited the process of finalising the alignment and securing approval. The project was initially planned to link Gopalpur, but had to be shifted to Rameshwar because of the non-cooperation of the previous govt,” he said.