Widening of NH, a link with UP, likely to take more time

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, January 22

The widening of the National Highway 709A, an ambitious project of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to connect Haryana with Uttar Pradesh, is likely to be delayed further as no spare compact area is left for afforestation in the district to cover the loss due to the widening.

A spare compact area is a patch of land available on both sides of highways, canals and railway lines.

The Forest Department has sought permission from the higher authorities for afforestation in other districts to cover the loss. According to sources, the entire process may take time. The fact came to light during a meeting at the Mini-secretariat chaired by Navraj Sandhu, Additional Chief Secretary, on Monday.

The project is one of the nine plans of the department which is hanging fire.

The widening of the project was a long-pending demand of residents. The CM had announced the project last year to provide relief to commuters from traffic congestion.

Around 14-km road length is to be covered under the project. The existing stretch of around 4 km is a four-lane road, which will be extended to six lanes while the remaining 10-km stretch is a two-lane road, which will be widened to four lanes. The estimated cost of the project is Rs115 crore.