High Court panel to look into 'flaws' in NH six-laning project

Bijendra Ahlawat

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Palwal, December 10

A two-member commission has been deputed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to look into the allegations of flaws in the work of six-laning of the National Highway-19 passing through Faridabad and Palwal districts. The commission is expected to submit its report before the next date of hearing, which is February 8, 2023.

Inspection tomorrow

• The order comes in response to a petition filed by Deep Karan Dalal, an advocate, who has contended that the six-laning project had failed to meet the conditions and that the imposition of a new toll plaza in the district was illegal
• The High Court in its order passed recently has asked the commission to carry out the inspection on the 179-km-long stretch of the highway between the Badarpur border and Agra on December 12

The order comes in response to a civil writ petition (CWP) filed by Deep Karan Dalal, an advocate, who has contended that the six-laning project had failed to meet the conditions and imposition of a new toll plaza in the district was illegal. The High Court in its order passed recently has asked the commission to carry out the inspection on the 179-km long stretch of the highway between the Badarpur border and Agra on December 12. “Since rival competing claims are being raised with respect to the completion of the work and its status, it has thus become imperative to determine the status of the project as it exists today by appointing a local commission to inspect the stretch of road — the project undertaken by the concessionaire and to report about the facilities and as to whether such work has been undertaken as was mandatory under the agreement before the commencement of collection of toll,” reads the order.

NK Aggarwal, a retired PWD Chief Engineer, and Shailender Kashyap, an advocate, have been named as commission members. “The Commission shall inspect the complete stretch and take photographs of the respective defects or deficiencies in the mandatory works and services required to be completed before the collection of toll as per the concession agreement and shall submit the report,” says the order, adding that it may also be accompanied by the representative of the respective parties.

A dispute surfaced at the time of the start of a new toll plaza near Prithla village by the concessionaire in August this year. The petitioner charged that as per the project terms the toll collection was wrong as the contractor had failed to remove some of the defects, which included failure to make the railway bridge near Ballabgarh and the flyover in Palwal city to six lane. The petitioner had contended that various defects had not yet been removed and hence the collection of toll by the concessionaire was without any authority and the NHAI had allegedly failed to act as per the parameters of the concession agreement and to safeguard the interests of the commuters.