Nagpur, 10 July (HS):

The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court has directed the National Highways

Authority of India (NHAI) to submit a proposal to the Central Road Transport

Department by July 31 regarding the development of the Nagpur-Katol Road, which

passes through a tiger corridor.

The order came during

the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Dinesh Thakre and

Sumit Babut requesting the speedy completion of the road work. Their counsel told

the court that the road passes through a sensitive tiger corridor, and urgent

action is required to avoid further delays.

Initially,

the entire 48-kilometre stretch from Nagpur to Katol was planned to be developed

under a single contract. However, the project was delayed due to technical and

other challenges. Now, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has

decided to divide the work into separate components.

The

11.90-kilometre Katol Bypass and the 8.10-kilometre stretch passing through

Tiger Corridor-1 have been excluded from the original contract. These sections

will now be developed through separate tenders. The estimated cost of

developing the Tiger Corridor portion alone is around Rs 500 crore. A Detailed

Project Report (DPR) for the Katol Bypass has already been prepared.

In a related

matter, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court directed the lawyer

representing the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to file an

affidavit regarding the removal of encroachments on the Nagpur-Fetri Road,

which are reportedly delaying development work.

The court questioned whether its earlier order to clear the encroachments had

been implemented. The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in this case was filed

by Advocate Arun Patil, with Senior Advocate Firdous Mirza appearing on his

behalf.

Hindusthan Samachar / Ajay Vasant Mardikar