Punjab, NHAI to start work on Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway

The NHAI chairman informed the CM that decks for the project had been cleared, since the shorter alignment that the authority had proposed had been finalised

Chandigarh Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) chairman Sukhbir Singh Sandhu agreed to start work, expeditiously, on the prestigious Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway project on Monday. “Acquisition of land for the ₹30,000 crore project, of which ₹10,000 crore will be spent by the NHAI on the 300km stretch in Punjab, will commence soon,” a spokesperson said, after a meeting between the chief minister and the NHAI chairman on Monday.

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The NHAI chairman informed the CM that decks for the project had been cleared, since the shorter alignment that the authority had proposed had been finalised. During the meeting, Amarinder also sought early execution of Shambu-Jalandhar (old NH-1), Ludhiana-Talwandi Bhai Section of NH 95, and demanded the termination of toll collection on NH-44 as work on it had not been completed yet.

The CM pointed out to the chairman that the four-laning of the Kharar-Banur-Tepla road on NH 205A had not started to date, even as the road had been transferred to the NHAI in May 2017. He asked the NHAI to start work on the project without any further delay.

Demanding that the NHAI undertake a comprehensive review of the toll road in Zirakpur town, along with the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) and the municipal council, the CM added that as a result of the road currently being a toll road, there were frequent and major traffic bottlenecks in the town on the existing NH-22 section. As a result of the dense residential/commercial activity on both sides of the road, severe traffic jams were witnessed there, necessitating a re-look at the toll arrangement, the CM pointed out.