Court cases, non-clearance of power lines stall work on Vijayawada bypass

Vijayawada Western bypass project by NHAI facing delays due to court cases and power line clearances, impacting travel time.

Work on the six-lane Vijayawada Western bypass from Chinna Avutapalli to Gollapudi, a National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) project, seems to be taking longer than expected due to pendency of cases in High Court and non-clearance of high-tension power lines.

At present, Chennai and Hyderabad-bound travellers from Visakhapatnam have to enter the city, which increases their travelling time due to the traffic congestions. Once completed, the project will bring much-needed relief to the travellers as one can bypass the city, thereby cutting down travel time by an hour or more.

Undertaken as part of the Bharatmala Pariyojana programme of the Centre, the 47.8-km bypass that connects both the National Highways, that is, NH-16 (Chennai-Kolkata) and NH-65 (Machilipatnam-Hyderabad) at Gollapudi, is divided into two stretches for the sake of convenience.

While 93% of the work is completed on the first, a 30-km stretch from Chinna Avutapalli (Krishna district) to Gollapudi (NTR district), 65% work is completed on the second, a 17.8-km stretch from Gollapudi to Chinna Kakani (Guntur district). Contract for the first stretch was awarded to Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited, while the second was awarded to the joint venture of Adani Enterprises Limited and Navayuga Engineering Company Limited.

As per NHAI officials, work on the first stretch is expected to be completed by February 28, 2024. “There are 13 locations that the bypass touches in the first stretch. At each of these, there are 5-6 electrical high tension (HT) lines. So far, HT lines in three locations have been cleared. Cases are pending in the High Court regarding the rest. There is also opposition from farmers. We expect the court cases to be cleared in six months. Work on this stretch should be over by next February,” said officials from the Project Implementation Unit in Vijayawada.

The second stretch includes construction of a 3-km bridge over Krishna river from Venkatapalem to Suryapalem. “This is expected to take longer to complete because of the difficult nature of the work. We can expect it by January 2025,” they said.