NHAI to divert quadrilateral work to states
To expedite works on Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) project, NHAI has decided to outsource relocation of underground utilities such as cables and water pipes to public works department (PWD) of respective states.
By Priyanka Talwar, TNN |
NEW DELHI: To expedite works on Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) project, NHAI has decided to outsource relocation of underground utilities such as cables and water pipes to public works department (PWD) of respective states.
Relocation of public utilities has been cited as one of the main issues for delays in road sector projects. Poor contractual performance, land acquisition and environmental clearances are other factors responsible for delays, an official in NHAI said. Of the total 5,846 km under the GQ project, 5,409 km has been completed and 36 projects covering the remaining 437 km are still under implementation.
At the Delhi-Gurgaon stretch, the work has been delayed as NHAI failed to identify owners of the underground fibre optics cables. The owners of cables could be identified only after advertisements were issued. “This could have been avoided if the relocation work was outsourced to PWD,” he said.
Hassles related to land acquisition also leads to delay. “It, however, depends on state to state as some states are relatively more supportive than others,” he added.
NHAI’s experience in Uttar Pradesh (UP) does not seem to be good. One of its projects is halted as the state government has refused to give clearance to cut trees unless the authority coughed up money to buy 10 metre of land on both sides of the road. The authority is facing problems in Bihar and Jharkhand due to poor law and order situation.
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Last month NHAI’s administrative ministry was forced to issue full page advertisements blaming Jharkhand and Bihar government for the delay in Delhi-Kolkata stretch of the GQ, citing law and order problems. “While 96% of work on GQ will be completed by the end of the year, the remaining 4% suffers from contractual problems and litigation,” the official said. So far, the Delhi-Mumbai corridor of length 1,419 km has been completed.
Of the 1,290 km Mumbai-Chennai corridor, 1224 km has been completed. About 1551 km on the 1684-km long Kolkata-Chennai corridor and 1215 km of the 1453 km long Delhi-Kolkata stretch have been completed.
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