In view of future needs, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s pressure on the Center to expand the Amaravati Outer Ring Road (ORR) has paid off. The Central Government has agreed to acquire land with a width of 140 meters. It has also agreed to construct service roads on both sides of the ORR.
In 2018, the then Telugu Desam government proposed to acquire land with a width of 150 meters for the Amaravati ORR. It was also planned to build a railway line to run suburban trains in connection with the expansion of the ORR. Recently, the Alignment Approval Committee under the Central Government gave preliminary approval for the construction of a 189-kilometer-long 6-lane ORR.
However, it stated that land should be acquired only with a width of 70 meters. The committee suggested that the Railway Department be contacted, saying that they would not acquire land for the railway line or other needs. CM Chandrababu Naidu has written a letter to the Centre on this.
He also recently spoke to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and explained to him that in the future the ORR will have to be expanded to 10 lanes and then there will be challenges in acquiring land. Keeping all this in mind, Chandrababu Naidu requested that land be acquired now with a width of 150 meters.
With this, Gadkari agreed to acquire land with a width of 140 meters. Recently, when the Alignment Approval Committee approved the Amaravati ORR, it approved the construction of a service road only towards the capital area. It was stated that the ORR does not need an outer side. CM Chandrababu discussed this with Gadkari as well.
He explained that only if there are service roads on both sides, the people of the villages and towns adjacent to the ORR can travel easily. Gadkari agreed to it. According to the preliminary approval of the Alignment Approval Committee, the cost of land acquisition for the 70-meter wide ORR is estimated to be Rs. 16,310 crore.
Now, the cost of land acquisition for the 140-meter wide ORR will increase. All the details will be included in the orders to be received by the state from the top officials of the central government soon.
