Mumbai, June 19 (IANS) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday asked the administration to complete land acquisition of all important projects in the state as per the schedule and the projects should be put on track as soon as possible. He also instructed all the relevant agencies to ensure that no project is delayed due to lack of land acquisition.

He gave these directives at the meeting where he reviewed the land acquisition of important projects in the state.

The Chief Minister held a detailed review of the land acquisition of road projects including Nagpur-Goa Shaktipeeth Highway, Virar-Alibagh Corridor, Jalna-Nanded Expressway, Pune Ring Road East, West and Extension, Bhandara-Gadchiroli Expressway, Nagpur-Chandrapur Expressway, Nagpur-Gondiya Expressway, Navegaon (Mor)-Surjagad Mineral Corridor, Vadhvan -Igatpuri Expressway, as well as the land acquisition of Wardha-Nanded, Wardha-Gadchiroli railway projects and airports at Kolhapur, Karad, Akola, Gadchiroli and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

Stating that the delay in the project leads to a huge increase in its cost, CM Fadnavis said that a timeline has been given to all agencies for the land acquisition process.

“All agencies and concerned officers should work on mission mode. Land acquisition work should be taken seriously and started immediately. Everyone should work laying focus on quality,” he added.

He said that the Shaktipeeth Highway plan should be prepared on a fast track basis. So that the least forest land is affected. The Finance Department should provide a fund of Rs 12,000 crore for the land acquisition of this highway.

“Since there is forest land and mangrove forest in the Morbe to Karanja section of the Virar Alibaug Corridor, the process of obtaining the necessary permits should be started immediately. Also, while obtaining the permits for this project, the administrative process should be continued in parallel. This will speed up the work,” he said.

He further directed that a proposal should be submitted to include the Vadhvan-Igatpuri Expressway in the Sagarmala scheme. The land acquisition process of the Jalna-Nanded Expressway at Selu in Parbhani district should be completed within 15 days, he said, adding that the plans of all the expressways in Vidarbha, including Bhandara-Gadchiroli, Nagpur-Chandrapur, Nagpur-Gondiya, should be finalised on a fast track basis.

CM Fadnavis also gave instructions that the land acquisition process for the Wardha-Gadchiroli and Wardha-Nanded railway lines should be completed within 15 days and the work should be started.

He further instructed the administration to complete the mapping of the Obstacle Limitation Surfaces (OLS) for the Gadchiroli Airport and its proposal should be sent by the Gadchiroli District Collector. He also gave instruction to increase the length of the runway of the airport in Akola to 2,400 meters, emphasising that a beautiful, modern and large airport should be built in Akola.

–IANS

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