Private firm bags highway project

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 17

After clearing all hurdles over land acquisition rates, the NHAI has finally awarded the contract of the 27.5-km-long Kaithlighat-Dhalli stretch of the Kalka-Shimla four-laning highway project for Rs 1,480 crore to a private firm.

The NHAI has asked Chetak Road Construction Company to complete the project in 30 months. The main highlight of this section of the Shimla-Kalka four-lane highway project will the 600 m cable-stayed bridge between Dhalli and Bhatta Kufar, an NHAI official said.

The NHAI has agreed to give compensation to the land owners at the rate of Rs 25,000 per sq m for the structures that exist on the acquired width of the highway land.

The Central agency has also agreed to give compensation at the rate of Rs 40 lakh per bigha for the acquired land, the sources said. “We are acquiring land for the section to take care of the future needs,” said an NHAI technical expert.

“The project will have three tunnels, including one that will join the Shimla-Narkanda section at Dhalli. The length of these tunnels will be about 2 km and the road will have nine major bridges and 89 culverts,” the NHAI sources said.

A senior NHAI technical manager said the highway will divert the flow of the big vehicles, including Army convoys leading to the border areas in Spiti and Kinnaur and the fruit and veggie-laden trucks heading for markets in Chandigarh from the capital city, he added.

The project would reduce the travelling time between Shimla and Chandigarh to just two hours and distance to just 90 km. It will improve connectivity to the forward areas in Spiti and Kinnaur.

To cut travelling time between Shimla, Chd 

• The highway will divert big vehicles, including Army vehicles and fruit and veggie-laden trucks heading for markets in Chandigarh, from the capital city 
• The project will reduce the travelling time between Shimla and Chandigarh to just two hours and distance to just 90 km