4 months on, Karnal-Meerut road widening yet to pick up pace

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, January 3

Four months after the foundation stone for a project of widening of Karnal-Meerut road (a part of National Highway 709A) the work is going on at a snail’s pace.

As per sources, only three to four per cent of work has been completed so far. Works which are supposed to be done by other departments, including laying of storm water lines and sewerage lines along with removing of electric poles, are also some of the reasons behind the slow pace of the project, said an official.

The widening project is a long pending demand of the residents. On their demand, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had laid the foundation stone for widening of a 14.5-km long stretch up to Haryana-UP border from Tau Devi Lal Chowk on August 17 and the deadline of the project is February 2022. A six-lane road will be constructed from Tau Devi Lal Chowk to Karnal Sugar Mill, while a four-lane road will be constructed between Sugar Mill and UP border. Under the Rs 105-crore project, the six-lane road would be widened to 27.5 m and four-lane road would be widened to 20.5 m.

Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav on Wednesday reviewed the progress of the work and expressed anguish over the slow pace of the work. He directed the officials concerned to speed up the work. Besides, he fixed a strict deadline to complete the work on a portion of six-lane road by January 2021 end.

He also pulled up the officials for lack of coordination and hampering the progress of the project. “I visited the site recently and directed the officials to complete the work on both the sides up to Sugar Mill by January-end,” said Yadav, adding that he had also asked the Karnal Municipal Corporation to lay storm water pipelines and sewerage pipe lines at the earliest, so that the work of road would be started. “I have also asked the Power Corporation to remove the electric poles,” he added.

Yadav said under a change in the project, now a flyover at Nagla Chowk had been proposed that would reduce vehicular movement at Nagla Chowk, which is surrounded by around 20 villages. “I have asked the officials to send a proposal to the headquarters, so that the flyover can be made at Nagla Chowk, which will help in smooth traffic flow,” said the DC.