Land acquisition delay hits Delhi-Katra e-way

The Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Greenfield Expressway (DAK), part of the Centre’s Bharatmala Pariyojna project, has suffered a setback due to delays in acquiring the necessary land.

The expressway, which stretches 399 km in the state, is part of the larger 669 km Kundli–Manesar–Palwal Expressway project in Delhi. While work has commenced on 296 km of the expressway, passing through Patiala, Sangrur, Malerkotla, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Gurdaspur, reports suggest the extension towards Amritsar has been hampered.

The NHAI had signed a contract on May 12, 2022, with a firm for the construction of a four-lane Greenfield link from Dhunda village (Khadoor Sahib) to the Tarn Taran bypass near Manawala village in Amritsar.

However, NHAI Project Director Abdullah Khan stated the required land acquisition for this stretch has not yet been completed.

Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla has criticised the state government for its failure to move the project forward. He claimed out of the Rs 2,624 crore cleared by the Centre, Rs 749.67 crore remains undisbursed to landowners whose land is to be acquired.

Aujla also pointed out the state government has yet to take possession of 33.82 km of land around Amritsar.