Rs 804-crore compensation disbursed to expedite highway projects in Himachal
Solan, March 19
The state government disbursed Rs 804-crore compensation in the last one month to the people affected by the Mandi-Pathankot, Shimla-Mataur, Baddi-Nalagarh and Kiratpur-Manali national highways and the Shimla bypass projects.
The process was expedited after Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari expressed concern over the projects during CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s visit to Delhi in February.
The CM had convened a meeting of the officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the deputy commissioners (DCs) concerned on February 15.
The officials were directed to expedite the disbursement of compensation to the affected persons. The compensation worth crores had been lying with the NHAI for months.
The deputy commissioners of Kangra, Mandi, Hamirpur, Shimla, Chamba and Solan disbursed Rs 804 crore as compensation for land acquired for the Shimla bypass, Mandi-Pathankot, Shimla-Mataur, Baddi-Nalagarh and Kiratpur-Manali highways.
The Kangra DC disbursed the highest amount of Rs 432 crore, followed by the Mandi DC who disbursed Rs 180 crore, Hamirpur DC disbursed Rs 114 crore, Shimla DC disbursed Rs 52 crore, Solan DC disbursed Rs 19 crore and Chamba DC disbursed Rs 7 crore.
NHAI state head Abdul Basit said this was the highest-ever compensation disbursed in the state within a month’s time. He said it would speed up the progress of existing and new NH projects and also benefit the commuters.
