PWD-contractor tussle delays re-carpeting of Southern Bypass in Ludhiana
Despite an advance payment of ₹2.75 crore allocated to the contractor for the ₹53 crore Southern Bypass Road repaving project almost five months ago, the work is yet to start despite issuance of the work order
The much-needed repavement of the Southern Bypass Road here is hanging fire due to a tussle between the Public Works Department (PWD) and the private contractor to whom the work has been assigned.

Despite an advance payment of ₹2.75 crore allocated to the contractor for the ₹53 crore Southern Bypass Road repaving project almost five months ago, the work is yet to start despite issuance of the work order.
PWD executive engineer Randhir Singh had issued a notice on August 4 to the contractor due to concerns about his company’s bidding capacity. In a report to the state government on August 13, he recommended for the contract’s termination and forwarded documents related to the forgery in documents related to the bidding capacity of the contractor’s documents.
However, the contractor obtained a status quo against the termination of his contract from the court.
Sudhir Aggarwal, the contractor, said, “We have filed a case in the court and we got status quo for not terminating the contract. We are going to initiate the re-carpeting work of the Southern Bypass soon.”
The PWD is preparing a response with a comprehensive report in the next hearing in the case on October 23.
The Southern Bypass project, originally completed in 2011 at a cost of ₹328 crore, has not undergone any road repaving in the past 11 years. PWD officials confirmed that a work order for the project was issued on April 13 this year, and an advance payment of ₹2.75 crore was allocated to the contractor for machinery.
However, even after six months, the 26-km stretch from Ferozepur Road in Ludhiana junction to Doraha has not been re-carpeted. PWD department officials claimed that the project will commence soon.
Superintending engineer Harminder Singh Dhillon assured that the repaving of the Southern Bypass would commence shortly, as he had already directed the contractor to initiate the project as soon as possible.
Paramjit Arora, PWD chief, said that he had instructed officials to issue a strict warning to the contractor regarding project initiation and assured that it would start shortly.
Residents and shopkeepers have expressed their dissatisfaction with the situation. Citing recent patchwork on the stretch, they say that the project was passed for re-carpeting of the road and not for patch work.
Kuldeep Singh Khaira, a city resident, said, “State government should intervene in this matter as the department is not interested in commencing this project. Due to the tussle between the PWD and the private, the project is getting delayed. I request the state government to mark an inquiry in this case and allot fresh tenders for the project.”
The estimated project cost was initially ₹80 crore, according to the PWD department. However, during the bidding process, the tender closed at ₹53 crore, which includes ₹50 crore for the project and ₹3 crore for project maintenance over the next five years.
