Admin pulls up highway body for delay in NH-8 widening

The district administration on Wednesday pulled up the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and its contractor for delay in the road widening project along the NH-8.

The district administration on Wednesday pulled up the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and its contractor for delay in the road widening project along the NH-8.

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The deputy commissioner, PC Meena, on Wednesday, visited the construction sites along the Gurgaon-Rewari portion of the highway and reviewed the work progress. The project will add two lanes to the four-lane link up to Jaipur.

The Rs. 1,896-crore project has already missed three deadlines since its launch in 2009. Now, the project is expected to be completed by June 2013. Commuters have to face frequent snarls due to ongoing construction activities along the 225-km stretch. Meena asked the NHAI and the construction company, Pink City Expressway Private Limited (PCEPL), to complete the work at the earliest.

The deputy commissioner asked the NHAI officials to conduct a survey and check whether any part of land in the alignment has not been acquired and submit a report within a week. "The state government acquired land for the project in 2008 and it was handed over to the NHAI and the concessionaire in 2009. Later, three supplementary awards have also been announced by the Gurgaon administration. Still, the NHAI and the concessionaire are saying that some portion of land is yet to be acquired," Meena said.

As many as 12 villages of Gurgaon district from Kherki Daula to Sidhrawali come under the highway widening project.

The NHAI officials told Meena that five flyovers and four pedestrian underpasses fall in Gurgaon. The proposed flyovers will cover Sikohpur, Rampura, Manesar, Bilaspur Junction and Sidhrawli villagers, while the underpasses will come up at Manesar, Kakrola and Binola.

According to L R Singh, vice-president of PCEPL, more than 75% of the entire project has been completed.