Change of alignment of NH cutting across Telangana water body recommended

New Delhi, Feb 25: It is not just the road widening for Char Dham Yatra project that has earned flak for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

In Telangana, a special committee of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has recommended re-alignment of a 4-lane road that was originally planned to cut right across a water body belonging to the state Irrigation Department.

The Committee submitted on February 24 to the NGT its report that was prepared on February 19.

Chuttukunta tank, a traditional reservoir, in Raghava Puram Village in Suryapet district of Telangana, is the subject matter of debate in front of the NGT wherein it was alleged that the NHAI had planned a road that simply cut across it.

On February 15, the NHAI authorities, during a discussion, said, "The alignment of the 4-lane road was adopted by not considering this particular water body in the Detailed Project Report. Simple cross drainage was taken into consideration for the alignment."

The proposed alignment will bifurcate the tank bed into two parts for a stretch of 340 metres directly affecting the water spread area to the extent of 3.36 acres as against the total water spread area of 33.63 acres, which, the Telangana Irrigation Department officials claimed, "is a clear indication of reduction of tank capacity."

The Irrigation Department also refused to provide NOC as it said that the road alignment was new and the NOC should have been sought earlier as no construction activity can be allowed in the tank bed.

It also refused to accept NHAI's offer of deepening the tank bed as it will lead to water level below the sluice gate and can have more dead storage, of no use to irrigation. It had also raised objections to the executive engineer's recommendations as per order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, of column bridge. It further quoted previous examples from different villages where such construction in tank bed was disallowed and the road alignment was shifted away.

The Committee, therefore, considered that the proposed alignment is a "clear case if interference of road for a length of 340 metres with a width of 40 metres covering 3.36 acres in the water spread areas of the tank" and hence recommended that NH alignment has to shift towards north to ensure "equilibrium ecosystem of the water body".