The Hemant Soren government scrapped Ranchi’s Kantatoli flyover project initiated by the former BJP government led by Raghubar Das on Tuesday, only to agree on a new plan to build a much longer, and therefore more expensive, flyover.
This decision was taken at meeting of the state cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of chief minister Hemant Soren. The meting also cleared a number of proposals concerning mining, industries, transport and urban development.
Cabinet coordination secretary Vandana Dadel said, “The Kantatoli flyover project has been terminated. Now, after amendments in its structural design, a longer flyover has been proposed via Kantatoli between Bahu Bazar and Kokar. The cabinet has agreed to spend Rs 224.94 crore for this project, setting a two-year timeframe for its completion.”
The foundation stone for the Rs 192 crore Kantatoli flyover, measuring about 1250 meters, was originally laid by President Ram Nath Kovind in November 2017 and was to be completed by 2020. However, the project suffered myriad hurdles right from start because issues with land acquisition and faulty design.
The incumbent government, after coming to power in 2019, found the design of flyover to be inadequate to address traffic issues at the key entry point to the city and began reworking it. “The size of the flyover now will be about 2.4km,” said Dadel.
Plans for promotion of mining and industries were also taken up. The cabinet agreed to set up the state’s own mining and exploration corporation, 100 per cent subsidy on electricity duty for captive power plants for a period of five years, appointment of Ernst & Young for the upcoming Dubai International Expo 2020 to showcase the state’s investment potential.
Delayed because of the pandemic, the expo is now scheduled to take place from September 30 to October 6.
To tackle issues of malnutrition, the cabinet also passed a proposal to set up a programme management unit (PMU) at the state level to roll out distribution of fortified rice on a pilot basis to PDS beneficiaries in a phased manner.
