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NHAI asks Haldia dock to share 4-laning cost

Our Bureau

CALCUTTA, Aug. 28

THE National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has sought financial participation of the Haldia dock in its project to widen National Highway 41, which already extends up to the dock.

In a letter to the Calcutta Port Trust's Deputy Chairman-in-charge of Haldia dock, Mr. Swapan Chakraborti, the NHAI Chairman, Mr. D. Dasgupta, has estimated the cost of four-laning the NH 41 at Rs. 250 crores and suggested cost sharing on 50:50 basis.

The Haldia dock authorities, if they accept the NHAI's proposal, will have to cough up Rs. 125 crores. A three-year timeframe is envisaged by the NHAI for the completion of the project.

Normally, the State Government should participate in such a project. However, in this case, the West Bengal Government is believed to have thrown up its hands, pleading resources crunch.

Mr. Chakraborti, while talking to Business Line at Haldia recently, observed that prior to deciding on participation, the issue of recovery of the fund to be invested must be satisfactorily resolved.

Haldia being by and large a bulk cargo handling port, not even five per cent of the total volume of cargo it handles is moved by road. Oil and coal, the two main items handled by the dock, are transported either by waterways or by rail or by a combinatio n of the two.

The imposition of the toll charge as a means of recovering the cost is not being favoured as the toll experiment has not much succeeded much anywhere in the country. May be the alternative concepts such as slapping some special cess on the existing cargo -related charges might have to be explored.

All these issues, it is hoped, would receive due attention of the Consulting Engineering Services entrusted with the task of preparing the project report.

The 51-km long NH 41 branches off from the National Highway 6 at Mechada in the Midnapore district and extends up to the Haldia dock. As new industries come up at Haldia, the traffic density on the road is gradually increasing. The road, its present shap e, is not equipped to handle the projected increase in the volume of traffic.