Labour shortage hits work on Kharar flyover, but admn hopeful of meeting Sept deadline

The shifting of the overhead high-tension power cables to be undertaken by the Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL) is yet to be completed and is holding up the construction work

As a result of mass migration of labourers to their native states in wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, work on the Kharar flyover has taken a hit.

The shifting of the overhead high-tension power cables to be undertaken by the Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL) is yet to be completed and is holding up the construction work.

“We are planning to open the flyover’s Khanpur to Desumajra stretch for public by July end,” said Himanshu Jain, Kharar sub-divisional magistrate (SDM).

There were three poles to be shifted. Out of which two have been shifted, while the one at Khanpur is yet to be shifted to allow elevation.

Jain said, “PSTCL was facing labour issues, but we have directed them to complete the shifting of high-tension wires by June 20.”

Earlier, in February, Punjab public works minister Vijay Inder Singla, in reply to question by Kharar MLA Kanwar Sandhu, said the new deadline for the Balongi-Khanpur flyover project in Kharar was September 2020.

After reviewing the progress of the work, Jain said, “I was assured in the meet that service lanes will be completed by the first week of June. When the new Khanpur bridge to comes up by July end, the old one would be demolished and the entry and exit points of the flyover would be constructed.”

“Skilled labourers deployed by L&T are stuck in Uttar Pradesh. We are tying-up with authorities in Uttar Pradesh to get them back and add pace to work,” added Jain, who is overseeing the progress of the flyover.

However, the work of making service lanes and construction of the Kharar flyover has picked pace. About 375 local labourers have been deployed at the site to complete the work. Traffic has been diverted to one side of the flyover which is leading to bottlenecks.

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 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.