Delay in grant of permission by state govt impeding road projects: Nadda

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda today said that the Central Government had approved 25 national highways of 2,592 km for Himachal but delay in the grant of permissions and cumbersome procedures were proving to be a major impediment in the completion of these road projects.

Nadda chaired a high-level meeting in Bilaspur to review the progress and status of road construction projects in Himachal Pradesh. “I will take up with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu some critical issues that are impeding the construction of roads,” he added.

He said that the Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board’s clarification issued on April 23, 2024, categorising highway widening projects under the “orange” industrial category was causing delays as no-objection certificates (NOCs) were required from time to time. “This has raised concerns as it can adversely affect the ongoing projects of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) through financial and contractual complications. I will write to the Chief Minister and also speak with him to get this reviewed,” he added.

Nadda said that 25 national highway projects of 2,592 km were under execution in Himachal. While the NHAI would construct 785-km of highways and the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways 1,238 km, the Border Roads Organisation would build 567 km of roads. He added that the four major corridors of Kiratpur-Manali, Pathankot-Mandi, Parwanoo-Shimla and Shimla-Mataur-Bilaspur-Hamirpur were at an advanced stage and would be ready by 2027-28.

He said, “Another issue that needs to be resolved is of dredging the Beas (Mandi-Manali stretch of the National Highway-3). The unprecedented flashfloods of July 2023 had severely damaged the Mandi-Manali highway at multiple locations. Despite repeated requests from the Central Government, effective dredging of the Beas riverbed was yet to be undertaken,” he added.

Nadda said that the removal of boulders from the Beas riverbed and enhancing the river’s water-carrying capacity were crucial for the long-term safety of the highway and the riverside. He stressed the need for expediting forest clearance for the Rs 518.90-crore Sumdo–Kaza road project, which was approved on March 15, 2024, but the work on it could not be initiated due to the delay in the grant of forest clearance.

He underscored the critical importance of highways and tunnels for development and progress in Himachal and urged the state government to resolve these pending issues. He said that at present, Rs 25,600 crore worth of road projects of 627 km length were under construction in Himachal. “Besides, Rs 25,265 crore worth of road projects of 416 km length are in the pipeline while 19 tunnels are under construction at a cost Rs 3,200 crore. As many as 28 tunnels to be constructed at a cost Rs 5,400 crore are also in the pipeline," he added.