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15 km highway, new mini-secretariat to be opened in Ambala by March end
The Ambala-based projects include the highway, a ₹42 crore mini secretariat, a ₹30 crore all-weather swimming pool and a ₹13 crore boys’ sports hostel
Four development projects worth ₹300 crore, including a four-lane 14.8-km-long national highway (NH-444A) connecting Ambala Cantonment with Saha, are set to open for the public this month, officials said on Saturday.
The projects include the highway, which was constructed at an estimated cost of ₹220 crore, a ₹42 crore mini-secretariat, a ₹30 crore all-weather swimming pool and a ₹13 crore boys’ sports hostel.
At a district vision plan meeting convened by deputy commissioner (DC) Vikram on Friday, the chair was informed by Aditya Rana, an engineer with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), that the construction of the highway has been finished. Officials of the public works department (buildings and roads) also confirmed the completion of the secretariat and pool to the DC
The bituminous section of the highway will start opposite Ambala Cantt railway station to Saha via sub-divisional civil hospital and Tangri river and will be a toll-free road. The construction had kicked-off at the end of 2019 after a delay of several months.
The four-storey secretariat, metres away from NH-44, will have offices of the sub-divisional magistrate, deputy superintendent of police, tehsildar, patwari and other sub-divisional officials under one roof. It will have a basement parking facility and as well as a library.
The 50x25-metre pool at the premises of the War Heroes Memorial Stadium is also ready after a final water test. The pool will be a venue for the Khelo India Games, scheduled to be held next month.
The DC said, “The projects are expected to be inaugurated this month. The construction of boy’s hostel has already been completed and currently the SDM and his staff are working at the building. Soon, they will be shifted to the secretariat and petty works will be carried out at the hostel.”
The projects are expected to become a major poll plank ahead of civic body polls, scheduled to be at the end of April or May, for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The party is already banking on the development projects launched in the region by home minister and local MLA Anil Vij.
Vij’s media coordinator Raminder Singh said, “There will be a service lane on both sides of the highway and the highway will surely bring relief to residents of Mahesh Nagar and others from traffic congestion. The areas beyond Tangri river will also remain illuminated with the installation of LED lights that remained in dark earlier.”
