Jharkhand’s first transport nagar will come up over 40 acres of land on the outskirts of Ranchi in the next two years to ease traffic load in the city and strengthen the supply chain of goods, an official said on Sunday.
Transporters will not have to wait for long hours to get entry to the city as trucks will easily reach the transport nagar, a parking lot for heavy vehicles, bypassing the main thoroughfares of the state’s capital, he said.
Entry of heavy vehicles is prohibited in Ranchi city from 8 am to 10 pm every day for excessive traffic load during the period.
Construction work for the ambitious project has started on 40.68 acres of land in Sukurhuttu area of Ranchi’s Kanke block, the official said.
The project is being developed at Rs 113.24 crore and is expected to be completed in the next two years, State Urban Development Authority Director Amit Kumar told PTI.
“The Hyderabad-based agency KMV Projects Ltd started the construction work last month. Once it is completed, it will ease the traffic load in the city and offer sustainable support to traders in the supply chain management,” he said.
The parking facility for 424 trucks, including 93 extra large and 190 large trailers and 141 small goods carriers, is being developed. Besides, an integrated building, two warehouses, a fuel station and recreational spaces would also be set up in the transport nagar, the official said.
In the integrated building, there will be office space with 16 rooms and a 180-bed dormitory for drivers, helpers and others.
A food court with a seating capacity for 150 people, 17 retail shops, health care, pharmacy, toilets and a police check post are also proposed in the integrated building, he said, adding that water and sewage treatment plants will also be developed there.
Ranchi connects Jamshedpur (National Highway 33), Hazaribag (NH 33), Daltoganj (NH 75), Gumla (NH 23) and Purulia (State Highway 1).
The city is also well connected by South Eastern Railway and has an airport.
Jharkhand Truck Owners’ Association (JTOA) president Lalit Ojha told PTI, “The transport nagar has been our long pending demand, which is now going to be fulfilled. The township will resolve our several problems and boost the businesses.”
Transporters will now get an identity due to the project, and they may not face unwarranted policing, he said.
“Transporters and truckers are big taxpayers but we are treated very badly by the police. If we miss the entry-exit time limit, even by five minutes, we are charged with a hefty fine by the authorities. With this transport nagar, we will not have to enter the city. The wholesalers and retailers will get their orders delivered in time,” Ojha said.
The transport nagar project was first conceptualised in 2010-11 when the state government asked the district administration to identify land for a parking lot for heavy trucks.
In the same year, pieces of land were acquired in Sukurhuttu and Dobalia but the area lacked an approach way to the ring road, which was hardly a kilometre from the proposed project site.
In 2013, a land acquisition process started for building the approach road. Finally, the Jharkhand cabinet had in September last year given its approval for the project. Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FJCCI) general secretary Rahul Maroo told PTI, “We welcome the project but the area on which it is coming up is too small. Around 40 acres of land will not serve the purpose. We demanded the project area be expanded to at least 100 acres. The offices that are coming up in the transport nagar should be allotted to national level transporters.”
