NHAI okays fourlaning of Pathankot-Mandi highway : The Tribune India

quick links

States

Cities

Opinion

Life

Move Ahead

Classified

Reach Us

The Tribune

Punjabi Tribune

Dainik Tribune

NHAI okays fourlaning of Pathankot-Mandi highway

Photo for representation purpose only.

Ravinder Sood
Palampur, June 11

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has given its clearance to the Rs 8,000-crore Pathankot-Mandi highway four-lane project.

Alignment altered

The alignment of the new four-lane highway has been changed and now only a few stretches of the old highway will be used.
It has been proposed to construct eight bypasses, three tunnels, three railway overbridges and three flyovers between Mandi and Pathankot.
All major towns such as Nurpur, Mattor, Nagrota Bagwan, Palampur, Maranda, Baijnath, Paprola and Joginder Nagar have been bypassed in the new project.
The longest (33-km) straight bypass will be constructed between Paror and Chauntra along the Pathankot Joginder Nagar railway line without any curve on the highway.

The NHAI had discontinued the land acquisition process in May last year. However, the exercise has now been restarted and the NHAI will float a global tender for the construction of the first phase of the project between Pathankot and 32 Mile in the next two months. The project has already been delayed by two years.

A senior NHAI official said construction work would begin after the payment of land compensation to the affected persons. A detailed project report had been completed by Joint Ventures and Infrastructure Casta Limited, a private company, in 2016. The total cost of the project has been evaluated at Rs 8,000 crore. The alignment of the new four-lane highway has been altered and now only a few stretches of the old highway will be used.

As per the proposal, eight bypasses, three tunnels, three railway overbridges and three flyovers will be constructed between Mandi and Pathankot. Special stress has been laid on ensuring minimum inconvenience to those living along with the highway and minimize environmental degradation.

After the project completion, the distance between Pathankot and Mandi will be reduced from 219 km to 171 km. All major towns such as Nurpur, Mattor, Nagrota Bagwan, Palampur, Maranda, Baijnath, Paprola and Joginder Nagar have been bypassed in the new project.

The longest 33-km bypass will be constructed between Paror and Chauntra along the Pathankot-Jogindernagar railway line without any curve on the highway which will skip important towns such as Palampur, Maranda, Baijnath and Paprola.

Another seven-km bypass will be constructed between Sunehar and Malan to avoid the congested areas of Nagrota Bagwan subdivision.

Besides, tunnels will be constructed between Kotla and Draman, Mattor and Kachhyari and Bijni and Mandi town.