Rs 756-cr elevated road project set to miss another deadline

Tribune News Service

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, June 2

The much-awaited partially-access controlled four to six-lane elevated highway corridor in Ludhiana is not going to complete by this month end, officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) have maintained.

With almost 92 per cent of the work already done, this Rs 756.27-crore Central project was scheduled to be ready by June end but it would not be possible in view of the present pace of work.

Finish formalities of construction of bridges: MP

RS MP Sanjeev Arora instructed NHAI officials to complete all formalities related to the construction of the four bridges on the Sidhwan Canal.

It was conveyed by the NHAI officials during a review of the ongoing infrastructure development projects at a high-level meeting, chaired by Rajya Sabha MP from Ludhiana, Sanjeev Arora, here on Friday.

Arora showed displeasure when the NHAI officials apprised him that the completion of the elevated road may be delayed by another four to six weeks.

The development assumes significance as the work on one of the busiest arteries of the Maximum City had already missed a deadline of completion in April 2020. Started in October 2017, the construction of a 12.95-km-long stretch between the busy Samrala Chowk and Ludhiana municipal limits on the National Highway-95, would now miss another deadline of June as well.

The NHAI officials assured the Rajya Sabha MP that by the end of June, all ramps would be completed. However, there will be a delay in joining the ISBT road and Jagraon bridge.

Arora categorically asked the NHAI officials to complete the pending work of the elevated road at the earliest so that the people could not face any kind of inconvenience due to traffic bottlenecks caused by the ongoing construction work.

He complimented the administration on getting possession of land acquired for the NHAI projects to ensure their early completion.

He urged the officials concerned to further speed up the pace of work on all ongoing projects by taking into confidence all stakeholders involved.

The Rajya Sabha MP, who had recently called on NHAI Chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav to press for the early completion of the project, said he had been informed by the officials that there would be four slip roads — one each near Verka Plant, PAU, Bhai Bala Chowk and Hotel Park Plaza — on the elevated highway. There would also be a provision for vehicular traffic to move towards the bus stand and Shri Durga Mata Mandir.

The NH-05 section passing through the city was being constructed on the EPC mode under the NHDP, Phase IV.

The elevated highway, connecting Samrala Chowk to the Ludhiana municipal limits till the Ferozepur road on the NH-05 in the city, will be six laned from Bharat Nagar to the municipal limits with two loops — one towards the railway station and another towards the ISBT.

The project entails six ramps — three each at the exit and entry points and a flyover at Cheema Chowk with 320-m length, which has already been completed and opened for traffic by the then NHAI chairman Sukhbir Singh Sandhu here in February last.

The under-construction elevated highway will provide uninterrupted flow of traffic to several government offices, including Mini Secretariat, Commissioner of Police office, head post office and major business establishments.

Even as the construction work on this project had commenced on October 10, 2017, it could not be accelerated due to existing trees, electricity supply lines of 11, 66, and 220-KV and presence of sewer and water supply lines at several locations.

While the Cheema chowk flyover was completed and opened to traffic in December 2020, the work from 9.5-km to 12.95-km, including two ramps on either side for exit and entry, will be completed shortly.

The work on the remaining portion of the project from Bharat Nagar to the canal was also underway.

Arora chairs review meeting

Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora chaired a joint meeting of the district administration and other departments to review the ongoing projects in the district.

Deputy Commissioner Surabhi Malik, MC Commissioner Shena Aggarwal, ADC Amarjeet Bains and officials from GLADA, NHAI, PWD, Punjab Police and PSPCL attended the meeting. He directed the officials to complete the ongoing development projects in a time-bound manner.

He also instructed the NHAI officials to complete all formalities related to the construction of the four bridges on the Sidhwan Canal.

Arora pointed out that a large number of industrial units were located along the Bahadurke road but connectivity was not too good. He asked the officials to prepare a proposal for connecting Bhadurke with the Ludhiana-Rajpura highway, which he would take up with the Union Ministry and get it sanctioned.

GLADA officials assured that the ongoing work to construct a road from Lodhi Club to Sidhwan Canal passing through Pakhowal would be completed soon.

PWD officers assured that the Halwara airport work was going on at a fast pace and it would be completed in the next 8-12 weeks. There were some approvals required from the Airports Authority of India (AAI), which Arora assured to take up next week with the Civil Aviation Secretary and get them done.

He asked the Civil Surgeon and the ESI Director on the status of upgrading the ESI hospital from 300 to 500 beds. He said Union Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav had already assured him to upgrade the hospital as the state-of-the-art hospital. He said the state government had also written to the Union Government in this regard.

Arora asked the MC Commissioner to work out the opening of a sports facility lying idle on Pakhowal Road for the good of youth and citizens at large.

He asked the officials to approach him without any hesitation in case of any difficulty or hindrance in undertaking the works, which he would take up with the higher authorities concerned. He directed the officials that no development work should be stopped or withheld without any valid reason.

“I want execution of all development works in a speedy manner,” he said while asserting that all works should be undertaken strictly as per quality control norms.

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