Acquire land for Patna-Gaya highway in 4 weeks: HC to government

GAYA: The Patna high court on Thursday gave four weeks to the state government to complete the process of land acquisition for four-laning 127km-long NH-83 connecting GT Road with Patna.
The two-lane road between Dobhi in Gaya district and Patna is to be converted into a four-lane highway to facilitate fast and smooth traffic that would reduce the travel time between Gaya and Patna airports from more than three hours to 100 minutes.
The HC direction came during the hearing of the PIL (CWJC no. 8093/19) filed by a Gaya-based activist group seeking early completion of the project.
Patna high court lawyer Manish Kumar, who represented the petitioners, said the bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Sanjay Kumar heard the case through videoconferencing. The court, according to the lawyer, was informed that the process for land acquisition for the remaining 18km-long stretch of the road was under progress.
The court directed the state development commissioner to complete the land acquisition process within four weeks. The court also constituted a committee comprising the regional officer of National Highways Authority of India and the district magistrates of Patna, Gaya and Jehanabad to jointly inspect the ongoing repair of the existing road on June 27 and submit the report.