Baddi-Nalagarh highway four-laning to begin soon

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, September 3

The four-laning of the 17.6-km-long section of the Baddi-Nalagarh national highway is likely to begin soon as the state government has agreed to bear the excess cost of land acquisition of the pending 4.43 hectares of land.

A decision to this effect was taken at a recent meeting held between officials of the state government and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). A stretch of 36 km is supposed to be four-laned from Pinjore to Nalagarh, out of which 17.6 km lies in Himachal.

Dinesh Punia, an NHAI official, said, “Once the state government communicates its consent to bear the balance cost of land acquisition, it will finally pave the way for further action like calling tenders for this long-pending four-laning work. This was agreed upon during a recent meeting held with the state government.”

Notably, the state government is keen on initiating this project soon as traffic influx is a major problem in the state’s industrial belt of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh, where 89 per cent of the state’s industries are located. The project has been hanging fire for several years.

As against the 45-m road, the width of the road is likely to be reduced to 39 m, informed officials involved in the land acquisition process.

An amount of Rs 124 crore has already been disbursed in Himachal to 1,604 of the 2,200 beneficiaries but the NHAI is yet to acquire the balance 4.43-hectare land. The circle rates were recently revised and the cost of land acquisition of the remaining 4.43-hectare has been brought down to Rs 14 crore, informed an official.

He said the state government had agreed to bear this cost and they were awaiting its official communication.

Notably, the high cost of land acquisition has been acting as a major stumbling block in four-laning the highway. The NHAI has refused to fund the project as the cost of land is much higher than the cost of the structure which will be raised to four-lane the road. As against the construction cost, estimated to be Rs 420 crore, the land acquisition cost has been estimated to be Rs 650 crore. A total of 54.9 hectares is supposed to be acquired initially, which includes 26 hectares in Haryana. The amount was considered to be exorbitant.

The project

• A stretch of 36 km is to be four-laned from Pinjore to Nalagarh, out of which 17.6 km lies in Himachal
• An amount of Rs 124 crore has already been disbursed in Himachal to 1,604 of the 2,200 beneficiaries but the NHAI is yet to acquire the balance 4.43 hectares