Highway projects likely to miss deadline due to scarcity of soil

Nitish Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ambala, August 6

The non-availability of soil in the vicinity for its various ongoing projects in the region has become a matter of concern for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

Govt assures positive steps

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The NHAI has raised the issue with the Haryana Government and it has assured that soon some positive steps will be taken to ensure that the NHAI gets soil for the infrastructural projects in the state. — NHAI official

According to information, a number of projects, including the Ambala Ring Road, Karnal Ring Road, Shamli Ambala NH 344-GM, Jagadhri-Tajewalla Highway, Ismailabad-Ambala NH 152, and Ambala-Chandigarh highway are under progress and the issue of soil may affect the projects.

Sources said, “The issue of soil has been affecting the speed of NHAI projects. The contractors have been arranging soil from far away locations but there is a scarcity of soil. It will not only increase the cost of the project, but the projects may also miss their deadline too and cause inconvenience to the commuters. Most of the projects have their deadlines next year.”

“The projects are running two to three months behind their schedule due to various reasons, including rains and shortage of soil in the vicinity. The NHAI has requested the Haryana Government to ensure that the soil is arranged in the vicinity for the ongoing projects so that the work could be completed in time,” the sources said.

An official in the NHAI said, “Most of these projects are green field highways and they require a huge quantum of soil. A ring road is being constructed to ease the traffic congestion of Ambala. The total length of the ring road project is about 55 km long of which 15 km four-lane stretch is already constructed from Balana village to Sadopur, while the work on the remaining 40 km is under progress. The Ambala ring road is an ambitious project and similarly the other projects will help ease the traffic congestion on highways and make commuting safer.”

“The NHAI has raised the issue with the Haryana Government and it has assured that soon some positive steps will be taken to ensure that the NHAI gets soil for the infrastructural projects in the state. All efforts are being made to complete the projects in time,” he added.