NHAI’s Rewari unit takes over maintenance work of Delhi-Jaipur highway

Gurugram: The Rewari project implement unit (PIU) of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) took over the maintenance and upgradation of the National Highway (NH-48) stretch from Kherki Daula to Bawal on Monday

Gurugram: The Rewari project implement unit (PIU) of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) took over the maintenance and upgradation of the National Highway (NH-48) stretch from Kherki Daula to Bawal on Monday.

Gurugram, India-January 22, 2023: A view of National Highway-48 near Manesar sector-1; the work on the upgradation of Delhi Jaipur highway from Kherki Daula to Haryana border is likely to get expedited as the national highways authority of India has transferred this stretch from NHAI Jaipur division to the NHAI, Delhi division, in Gurugram, India, on Sunday, 22 January 2023. (Photo by Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)(Pic to go with Abhishek's story)

The 65-km stretch is in a bad shape at many locations and a number of road improvement projects launched by the authority have been delayed. Initially, the work of resurfacing the road will be handed over to the Rewari PIU, while a decision on upgrading major structures will be taken at the headquarters, said NHAI officials in the know of the matter.

The issue of poor maintenance of the Delhi-Jaipur highway (NH-48) and slow work of construction of flyovers and underpasses has been taken up repeatedly by commuters and residents. Union minister and Gurugram Member of Parliament (MP) Rao Inderjit Singh had also taken up the matter with Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari, which led to the review of the ongoing works, said sources.

NHAI senior manager Vikas Mittal on Monday said that the process of handing over the maintenance of the highway stretch in Haryana was initiated on Monday. “We are taking over the maintenance of the 65-km stretch from Kherki Daula to Bawal. Initially, the focus will be to accelerate the pace of road overlaying work and improve maintenance. The decision on transfer of structural works will be taken at the NHAI headquarters. The Rewari PIU is already working on the Gurugram-Rewari highway project,” he said.

In 2021, the NHAI floated a tender for carrying out major improvement works at 14 locations on the Delhi-Jaipur highway between Kherki Daula and Jaipur. The entire plan envisages construction of four major bridges, five road overbridges, seven minor bridges, six grade separators and 11 bus bays. The entire project was to be completed in 18 months, but work was delayed.

The NHAI is building flyovers at Manesar, Bilaspur, Kapriwas and a bypass road at Dharuhera to resolve the issue of congestion, apart from repairing the highway.

An NHAI official said that repair and reconstruction work have been allotted to three contractors. “One contractor has been engaged for the 64-km section that falls in Haryana, while another contractor has been hired for the 161-km stretch that falls in Rajasthan. The third contractor will build 15 new structures on the highway”, he said.

Gurugram MP Singh in a statement said that the decision to hand over the maintenance work of the highway stretch was taken after repeated delays in repairing the road.

Singh said that he had taken up the matter with Union transport minister as several projects such as flyovers at Manesar, Bawal and Bilaspur remained stuck despite the foundation stone being laid by Gadkari. “The condition of the road surface at many places is bad and despite work being allotted to recarpet the road, it was going at a slow pace. I raised the matter repeatedly as thousands of commuters were badly affected due to the poor road conditions,” he said.

On March 10, 2022, Gadkari had laid the foundation stone of 19 works to upgrade the Delhi-Jaipur highway that included an elevated highway and a small bridge in Manesar at a cost of ₹86 crore, a flyover in Bilaspur, a bridge near Masani barrage and Dodhai, a culvert near Laduwas Gurjar and construction of a flyover at Bawal Chowk, apart from projects in Rajasthan.