E-Paper
HC sets May 5 deadline for Punjab to handover land for NHAI projects
On April 4, the court had summoned DCs and SSPs of all districts as it remained dissatisfied with the progress of land acquisition and handing it over to NHAI by the Punjab government.
Chandigarh
The Punjab and Haryana high court has directed heads of 11 districts in Punjab to handover land for National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) projects, including strategic Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway, by May 5.
The directions were passed by the high court bench of justice Sureshwar Thakur and justice Kuldeep Tiwari on April 4, during resumed hearing of a petition by the NHAI filed in August 2024 alleging delay in acquisition of land for NHAI projects in Punjab.
On April 4, the court had summoned DCs and SSPs of all districts as it remained dissatisfied with the progress of land acquisition and handing it over to NHAI by the Punjab government.
According to NHAI counsel, senior advocate Chetan Mittal, in total there are 36 projects of NHAI in Punjab having total length 1288.31 km, whereas possession is yet to be given for 136.67 Km. However, the Punjab government puts the figure at 88.39 km.
The court remained dissatisfied with the response of Punjab and directed it to handover the encumbrance free possession in a time-bound manner so that the NHAI can expeditiously complete the work and also recorded their oral undertaking before the court.
The court has sought a report from 11 DCs by May 5 with a direction that the possession of land be handed over to the NHAI.
Earlier, the NHAI had told the court that some of the projects, which are of national importance and greenfield corridors, were to be completed this year but have got delayed by two years.
“The delay in completion of projects is also impacting public safety as there is huge load on the existing road network which causes accident on daily basis. There is an escalation in cost due to delay in handing over of possession which is estimated at around ₹483 crore and further delay may lead to multiplicity of litigations by the concessioner/private contractors,” it said.
The NHAI has further said that due to delays, a loss of ₹2,500 crore has been recorded to public exchequer as four projects were terminated due to non-delivery of land. The NHAI had also to pay ₹ 25.43 crore as termination charges for these projects. If these projects are to be retendered, estimated escalation cost would be more than ₹2,000 crores, the NHAI said.
