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Kharar flyover work picks up speed amid curfew, likely to meet September deadline
Since work resumed on April 20, around 300 persons have been employed at the site and 200 truckloads of fly ash are being used daily to build ramps at the entry and exit points of the flyover; the potholes have been filled and the work on service lanes is being done
The restrictions on movement owing to the coronavirus curfew have come as a blessing in disguise for the Chandigarh-Kharar flyover as the work is back on track, with authorities hoping the project will finally be completed by September.
Since work resumed on April 20, around 300 persons have been employed at the site and 200 truckloads of fly ash are being used daily to build ramps at the entry and exit points of the flyover. The potholes have been filled and the work on service lanes is being done.
However, getting the work back on track was a challenge owing to shortage of labour and delays in permission to move machines to site. The construction activity comes to a halt in the night because of inadequate workforce. Officials of the district administration said the company has applied for permission to get back labour from Uttar Pradesh, and once that is done the work will gain momentum.
Project director of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) KL Sachdeva said, “The work is in full swing and we are taking all necessary precautions for the safety of the labour at work. With not much movement of traffic, the work has picked pace.” The employees are wearing masks, gloves and maintaining social distance, he added.
The work had come to a standstill on March 22 after the nationwide lockdown was announced. Even though the work resumed later, the shifting of overhead high-tension power cables to be undertaken by the Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL) is yet to happen.
NEW DEADLINES TO COMPLETE WORK IN PHASED MANNER
“We have reviewed the progress of the construction. Going by the present pace, I have been assured that the service lanes will be completed by May end,” said Himanshu Jain, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Kharar.
Jain said, “The new Khanpur bridge will come up by July end and the NHAI will demolish the old one soon. After this, the entry and exit points would be constructed.”
THE PROJECT
The 10-km Kharar-Chandigarh road expansion project that entails construction of two flyovers and three bridges and the authorities is struggling to meet the fifth deadline of the project. The new deadline is September 2020.
The NHAI had handed over the ₹368-crore project to Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and the construction began in November 2015. It was to be completed by December 2018. However, in the past four years only 68% work was completed.
Delays were on account of shifting the start point of the flyover from Dara Studio to Balongi due to agitation by locals in June 2016, issues of land acquisition, disbursement of compensation, demolition of critical structures and limitations of traffic diversion in the area.
