E-Paper
Hanging fire for 10 months, Kharar flyover’s deadline now July 2020
Construction began in 2015, but has since been mired in problems between NHAI, Mohali admn
Having already revised the completion deadline for the Kharar flyover thrice, the district administration has now set a fresh deadline of July 2020.
The flyover, which was originally slated to be finished by December 2018, has now seen four deadlines in 10 months since, amid the constant blame game between NHAI and the district administration.
After missing the first deadline, the project was expected to finish by January 2020, then March 2020, and finally June 2020.
NHAI (National Highway Authority of India) had handed over the ₹368-crore project to Larsen & Toubro, to be completed by December 2018. However, four years after construction began in November 2015, it is only 65% completed.
COMMUTERS SUFFER
Meanwhile, commuters remain at the receiving end, as instead of improving connectivity, the construction has only compounded traffic woes on the stretch.
The national highway, where the flyover is coming up, connects Chandigarh to parts of Punjab, besides Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. With around 50,000 vehicles crossing the stretch daily, the area below the flyover remains a major bottleneck.
On Thursday, Mohali deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan held a meeting with the Kharar sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) and NHAI officials, and asked them to expedite the work.
WHERE’S THE DELAY?
The highway authority has been blaming the Mohali administration and the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) for the holdup.
According to NHAI, they have already deposited compensation amount of ₹200 crore with the district administration, but land owners were not compensated timely.
Besides, the Competent Authority for Land Acquisition (CALA) has not handed over the compensation to owners of 44 structures under the flyover on which the drain and service lanes are to be constructed. As such, the 44 structures have not been razed, and pose a hurdle in the work’s progress.
NHAI has also been blaming the administration for failing to divert traffic under the flyover, further holding up construction work.
Besides, the authority claims that it has deposited ₹40 lakh with PSPCL to remove high-tension wires near TDI City and Sunny Enclave, but PSPCL has yet to float tenders for their removal. Even after floating the tender, removing the high-tension cables will take at least four months.
WHAT THEY SAY?
We have chalked out a fresh plan to meet the new deadline. The 44 structures will be demolished after handing over compensation in the next two weeks. Heavy traffic at KFC and Khanpur will be diverted, and plan to deploy traffic personnel has been worked out.
Himanshu Jain, SDM Kharar
We informed the deputy commissioner about issues causing delay, such as removal of high-tension cable, demolition of remaining structures and diversion of traffic. With the commissioner’s assurance, we are hopeful of completing work by June or July.
Krishnan Sachdeva, project director, NHAI
The authorities are only busy in blame game, and are least concerned about the inconvenience to commuters. It is a challenge to cross the stretch. Often emergency vehicles also get stuck in the snarls.
Kamaldeep Singh Tiwana, resident of Kharar
