Shelved Ludhiana-Bathinda highway project back on track
In a major development, the Ludhiana-Bathinda highway project is back on track with the possession of almost the entire land taken, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has said.
The NHAI had withdrawn the big ticket project for want of land last year.
The 75.54-km six-lane access controlled Greenfield Highway was the fifth major NHAI project, besides the Centre’s flagship Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway to be revived in the state after they were shelved/ terminated for want of requisite land.
It was made possible after the physical possession of 72.04-km of the total 75.54-km, which accounted for over 95 per cent of the total land required for both packages of the project, was handed over to the NHAI by the respective district administrations.
The development assumes significance as the NHAI had shelved/withdrawn various highway projects after the contractors had left following non-availability of land in the state. It was after Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari took note of the matter and threatened to withdraw/cancel the shelved projects from Punjab and allocate them to other needy states that the state government had swung into action. On the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the then Chief Secretary Anurag Verma had engaged protesting farmers and held weekly meetings with the district civil and police officials concerned to ensure the possession of pending land for the revival of NHAI projects.
The NHAI, on its part, has floated a tender to invite fresh bids from contractors to resume the work to construct the new highway.
While 30.03-km Package 1 of the project would be built at the cost of Rs 906.51 crore, the Package 2 with 45.246-km length was estimated to cost Rs 1,555.13 crore.
Deputy Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal told The Tribune here on Tuesday that of the total 33.043-km under Package 2 of the Ludhiana-Bathinda highway project falling in Ludhiana district, the possession of 29.5 km has been handed over to the NHAI while the remaining 3.5 km will also be provided to the NHAI as and when it appoints the contractor and starts the work. “Currently, the NHAI has not appointed any contractor as a tender has been floated for the same,” he said.
According to NHAI officials, the entire land for 12.2-km stretch of Package 2 falling under Barnala district and 30.3 km Package 1 falling under Bathinda (13.2 km) and Barnala (17.1 km) has also been made available following which the process to resume the stalled work on the project has been initiated.
It has been over four years since the major infrastructure development project was awarded but in the absence of land, the previous contractors had left the work midway.
The first component of the NH-754AD will comprise 30.3 km while the second part will run into a 45.243 km stretch.
A total of 323.52 hectares of land was required to build the 45.243-km stretch of the highway in the jurisdiction of Ludhiana district, for which the total award amount of Rs 544.36 crore had been deposited and disbursed to the landowners.
Much-delayed project
The construction work on the two packages of the project was scheduled to begin in 2022 and was targeted to be completed by August 2025. But the non-availability of land had stalled the start of construction work.
While the Package-1 of the 30.3-km-long Greenfield expressway to build six-lane access controlled highway will start from junction with Amritsar-Bathinda Greenfield road (NH-754A) near Rampura Phul to junction with Moga-Barnala road (NH-703) near Tallewal village on NH-754-AD falling in Bathinda, Moga and Barnala districts, the Package-2 comprising 45.24-km stretch will take off from junction with Moga-Barnala road (NH-703) near Tallewal village to junction with Delhi-Katra expressway (NE-5) near Ballowal village in Ludhiana on NH-754-AD.
The highway will connect Ballowal village on the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway with Rampura Phul on the Amritsar-Bathinda expressway.
Once constructed, the drive from Ludhiana to Bathinda would become smoother and faster as the project entails six-laning the 75.54-km-long national highway 754AD at the cost of Rs 2,461.64 crore.
It was also a part of the Ludhiana-Ajmer economic corridor (EC-8), which was originally scheduled to be completed within 24 months under the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase 1.
The widening and strengthening of the highway had been taken up by the NHAI in two parts under the hybrid annuity model (HAM) mode.
The total civil cost of the project has been estimated at Rs 2,461.64 crore, including Rs 658 crore for first part and Rs 981 crore for the second component, while Rs 754.71 crore was earmarked for the land acquisition, which included Rs 248.51 crore for Package 1 and Rs 574.13 crore for Package 2.
The new Ludhiana-Bathinda expressway will pass through 36 villages falling in three districts of Ludhiana under Ludhiana and Raikot tehsils, Barnala under Barnala and Tapa tehsils, and Rampura Phul tehsil in Bathinda district.