Two critical ring road projects valued at over ₹7,500 crore have been stalled for over two years, awaiting forest clearances.
The Capital Region Ring Road (CRRR), a six-lane expressway encircling Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, and the four-lane Sambalpur Ring Road, designed to decongest urban centres and catalyse regional development, remain stuck in administrative bottlenecks. Despite land acquisition milestones being met, pending statutory approvals from the state’s Forest Department have halted progress, prompting urgent appeals from central authorities for intervention at the highest level.
The delay has raised alarm within infrastructure and mobility circles, as the projects are part of India’s Bharatmala Pariyojana, an ambitious highway development programme. The CRRR, extending over 111 kilometres, was envisioned to streamline long-distance traffic on NH-16 by providing an alternative route that bypasses urban zones including Khurda, Athagarh, and Choudwar. Finalised in 2021 with land acquisition beginning in mid-2022, it has already consumed considerable financial and logistical resources. The second project, a 35.38-km greenfield corridor around Sambalpur, has seen 290 hectares earmarked, involving land from both private and government holdings across 19 villages. Yet construction has been indefinitely deferred due to lack of green clearances.
The authority spearheading the initiative has highlighted that prolonged delays not only inflate costs but also rob the state of time-bound benefits such as enhanced connectivity, industrial stimulus, and GDP growth. As infrastructure inflation continues to mount, the economic loss from each passing month is difficult to ignore. Moreover, sluggish project execution casts a shadow over investor confidence in the state’s ability to facilitate large-scale infrastructure rollouts. In a recent communication, senior officials urged the state administration to expedite the statutory process, underlining that forest land diversion permissions are the final hurdle standing in the way of implementation.
However, the urgency for acceleration is meeting pushback from environmental quarters. The CRRR alignment has drawn scrutiny for cutting through ecologically sensitive patches in Dhenkanal district, including a vital elephant corridor within the Kapilash sanctuary. Experts warn that the road, in its present layout, bisects a traditional path used by elephants, posing a grave threat to their movement and increasing the likelihood of human-animal conflict. At least 10 kilometres of the proposed route reportedly intrudes on forest patches essential to the region’s biodiversity. Wildlife researchers caution that the transformation of these landscapes could inflict irreversible damage on conservation efforts and fragment existing habitats beyond repair.
The situation presents a complex policy conundrum. On one hand, the delay in forest clearances frustrates efforts to modernise road infrastructure, streamline logistics, and reduce vehicular emissions through decongestion. On the other, ignoring ecological sensitivities risks long-term damage to biodiversity and environmental balance. Balancing infrastructure development with ecological stewardship is no longer a mere administrative challenge but a moral and developmental imperative. As Odisha walks this tightrope, the broader question looms
Odisha ₹7500 crore ring roads face long delays due to forest clearances
