Delay in Delhi-Mumbai Expressway project

Tribune News Service

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, March 25

Handing over the 70-m right of way (ROW) to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway project has been delayed.

Hurdles galore

The work has failed to get completed mainly due to hurdles, which include legal issues, allotment of alternative land and lack of political will. Sources in District administration

The route

Starting from the Ring Road-DND junction in Delhi, the Expressway will pass through Faridabad-Ballabgarh bypass to culminate at the interchange near Mandkola village in Palwal.

The ROW, which was to be handed over this month to the NHAI as per the revised schedule, still faces hurdles, threatening to cause further delay. The work has already missed the initial deadline of December 2020.

“Though the process for the removal of encroachments in the 26 km-long passage between Sector 37 and Sector 59 on the byepass road here had been on for the past two years, the work has failed to get completed mainly due to hurdles, which include legal issues, allotment of alternative land and the lack of political will, according to sources in the district administration.

While many encroachments in the shape of residential and commercial buildings have been removed, others still exist due to a legal tangle in which alternative space is to be provided to many structures. Such structures include seven fuel pump stations, two boosting stations (sewage) and encroachments in the form of slum clusters.

“While the matter was being pushed continuously, inordinate delay has marked the possession of the ROW for the project,” said Dheeraj Singh, a senior NHAI official. “We are expecting the ROW possession soon,” he said. “While frequent transfers of the officials concerned and recent Assembly polls in UP have impacted the process, the delay has placed the commuters at the receiving end due to the slow pace of the work,” said Varun Sheokand, a resident.

Meanwhile, claiming that the process of the removal of encroachments had either been over or was in final stages, Jitender Dahiya, Administrator, HSVP, said the ROW would be given soon. With the allotment of alternative space to fuel and boosting stations finalised, he said the rehabilitation of the slum clusters residents was in process as per the court directions. A large number of encroachments have been removed in the recent past, he says.

Starting from the Ring Road-DND junction in Delhi, the Expressway will pass through Faridabad-Ballabgarh bypass to culminate at the interchange near Mandkola village in Palwal.

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