Commuters navigating the heavily congested stretch linking Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur with Balodabazar are set to experience significantly faster travel following progress on a massive highway expansion plan. A collaborative survey initiative comprising the National Highways division, the forest department, and the electricity board has finalized assessments spanning from the capital up to Khorsi village within the Kharora block. The project is designed to eliminate persistent bottlenecks across the busy trade and transport corridor.
Land Survey and Claims Assessment
During the on-ground evaluation, survey teams demarcated approximately 17 hectares of land spread across 20 to 21 rural localities. Across this stretch, 711 individual land parcels have been mapped within the widening perimeter. Authorities will soon publish these identified plots publicly to invite formal claims and grievances from titleholders. RS Ganjir, SDO for National Highways, confirmed that administrative steps to formally solicit public claims and objections regarding the identified tracts are being rolled out immediately.
Phased Execution and Financial Blueprint
The overhaul of the Raipur-Balodabazar-Sarangarh corridor carries an estimated overall outlay of 1500 crore rupees, partitioned into two distinct development packages. The opening stage covers an 11.610-kilometer link running from Dhaneli to the old legislative assembly building, backed by a planned expenditure of nearly 500 crore rupees. The subsequent phase involves transforming a roughly 72-kilometer section from the assembly junction to Palari into a four-lane highway, requiring an estimated investment of 1050 crore rupees.
Structural Additions and Utility Realignment
Engineers have incorporated four major flyovers, multiple overbridges, and dedicated service lanes along critical junctions to manage high-density traffic. Once operational, travel times between Raipur and Balodabazar will shrink from an hour and forty-five minutes to just sixty minutes. The alignment requires removing roughly 7 thousand trees within Raipur district boundaries under established environmental guidelines. Additionally, the power distribution agency has submitted a 44.78 crore rupee proposal to relocate electric poles and related infrastructure, with demand notes pending formal clearance.
