Gracy Tripathy & Vikramaditya
Port Blair, Jan 31: The ART stretch of Baratang is probably the worst road stretch for the commuters. Sadly uncertainty still looms large over the completion of the project of ATR upgradation in the said road stretch due to Forest Restrictions.
The Baratang Stretch of ATR consists of total 22 KM of road from Nilambur Jetty to Gandhi Ghat Jetty. Out of this 22 KM ,15 KM of road falls under Forest Area and only 7 KM of road falls under revenue area.
Now the NHIDCL is facing huge difficulties in completing the road upgradation works in the said stretch due to such restrictions.
Andaman Sheekha recently filed a RTI in Forest Department and in reply the Forest Department informed Andaman Sheekha that “two patches of road require Forest clearance, which passes through the reserve forest of Baratang Division. The user agency has applied for forest clearance and is in process of approval.”
The Forest Department stressed that “Maintenance, repair and widening of ATR requires prior approval of the appropriate authority under FCA Act.”
Presently the contractors undertaking the ATR upgradation work in Baratang region are only focusing on the 7 KM long stretch which falls under revenue area and are planning to complete the work by March 2021. But what about remaining 15 KM road? Nobody knows how long NHIDCL will take for the Forest Clearance and when the task will be completed.
Everyone knows from May, Andaman and Nicobar Islands receives Monsoon rains every year and once Monsoon starts for next eight months it will be impossible to carryout proper road construction works and ultimately public has to suffer in coming days too.
This is high time the Andaman and Nicobar Administration must also interfere in the matter and take up the issue with concerned Ministry and help NHIDCL will get the required permission. Otherwise may be for another one year commuter will suffer the pain of crossing pathetic ATR stretch of Baratang region.
