Pathankot-Mandi four-lane project: NHAI invites fresh bids for Palampur-Padhar stretch

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has again invited global bids for appointment of a consultant for the 60-km stretch of the Pathankot-Mandi four-lane project between Palampur and Padhar.

Official sources told The Tribune previously there was a single participant, forcing the NHAI float the tender again. Once the consultant is appointed only then the preparation of Detail Project Report will be taken up.

The work to widen the Palampur to Padhar (Mandi district) stretch of the Pathankot-Mandi highway four-lane project has been held up for the past four years in the absence of DPR. Subsequently, the NHAI is also unable acquire land for the project. The Tribune had also highlighted the issue earlier in these columns.

However, the work in the remaining phases is going on full swing between Pathankot and Palampur and is likely to be complete in one year. The phase-V of the highway project between Padhar and Bijni has already been awarded and its construction is going on in full swing. But there is no headway for the construction of a road between Palampur and Padhar, a 60-km stretch linking Kangra and Mandi districts.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had met Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari many times requesting for the appointment of a consultant so that DPR could be prepared at earliest.

Information gathered by The Tribune revealed that earlier there was a proposal for the construction of a two-lane highway between Palampur and Mandi. Accordingly, the NHAI appointed a consultant who prepared a project report for a two-lane highway in 2021. The previous Jai Ram Thakur government had also agreed to a two-lane highway between Palampur and Mandi.

However, with the change of government in the state in December 2022, the new Chief Minister, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, opposed the construction of two-lane highways in the state.

He met Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and demanded the construction of a four-lane highway projects in the state keeping in view the high volume of traffic during the tourist season. The NHAI rejected the previous DPR and started process for a new DPR for a four-lane highway.

Since Himachal Pradesh has a non-BJP government, many highway projects are moving at a snail’s pace being in the low priority of the Centre. NHAI sources say if the consultant is appointed in next two months it will take one year for the preparation of DPR and three years will be the construction period of the project.