Panipat-Haridwar highway gets Forest Dept approval

Panipat, June 27

The Panipat-Haridwar highway will be constructed after the monsoon season. The Haryana State Road Development Corporation (HSRDC) has got forest clearance for stage-1 from the Forest Department and the process to invite the tender for the construction of the road has begun.

Estimated cost of project Rs 75 cr

• Road from Sanjay Chowk to Sanoli to be four lane
• Construction work to start after monsoon

The Panipat-Haridwar highway from Sanjay Chowk (now Vande Matram Chowk) to Sanoli would be 15 m wide with four lanes.

The potholed Panipat-Haridwar highway posed a threat to commuters for the past many years. Not only the common people and shopkeepers, leaders of the Opposition as well as the ruling party have protested against the condition of the road several times, but to no avail.

The Panipat-Haridwar highway, which connects the textile city to two states, including Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, has been in a bad condition for a long time. The file of the road has been shuttling among PWD B&R, National Highways Authority of India and the Haryana State Road Development Corporation (HSRDC) for the past many years.

Jatin of Model Town said this was the main road which was important to residents of two states. Hundreds of people of adjoining Kairana and Shamli in UP used this road to earn their bread and butter on a daily basis. But the condition of the road was very bad and people had to suffer a lot due to its bad condition.

Jugwinder Malik of Ugrakheri said they had been used to the condition of the road. It was unfortunate that all political leaders in the district were of the ruling party. Scores of people sustain injuries on this patch daily, he said. Shopkeepers in marble market, residents, AAP leaders and even ruling party leaders have protested several times in the last four years against the dilapidated condition of the road, but to no avail.

MLA Pramod Vij said forest clearance had been given and the DPR of the project had been prepared and tender would be invited in July and most probably the construction of the road would begin in August.

Jatin Khurana, XEN, PWD B&R, said the HSRDC was looking after the Panipat-Haridwar road up to Sanoli as it was their project and loan for this road was sanctioned under the National Capital Region Planning Board scheme. Apart from this, a short term tender worth Rs 5 lakh was being invited to fill the potholes on a 700 m stretch near the marble market, he said.

Ajit Singh, DGM, HSRDC, said the road would be of four lanes from Sanjay Chowk to Sanoli at an estimated cost of Rs 75 crore.

The stage-1 for clearance from the Forest Department had been received, the DGM said.