Restart work on Bilaspur highway by September 8 or face protest, says mahapanchayat

Gurugram, August 27

The Bilaspur flyover, to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 25 crore, is set to miss the deadline owing to stalled construction. At a mahapanchayat, residents of around 108 villages in the vicinity have given the authorities time until September 8 to resume the construction. Only 15-20 per cent work has been completed so far.

‘Will block expressway’

We have waited for long but won’t wait anymore. The SDM has promised intervention and we have given them time until September 8. If even after that they fail to resume the construction, we will launch a protest and block the expressway — Rajesh Chauhan, Chairman of Mahapanchayat

Stating that traffic congestion caused by the stalled project had become a source of nuisance, the villagers submitted a memorandum to Union Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari through the Manesar SDM.

The villagers threatened to permanently block NH-8 (Delhi-Jaipur Expressway) if the work did not resume soon. The mahapanchayat claimed that the work was stopped after the Lok Sabha elections as the area did not support BJP ‘enough’ then.

‘We have waited for long but won’t wait anymore. The SDM has promised intervention and we have given them time until September 8. If even after that they fail to resume the construction, we will launch a protest and block the expressway,’ said chairman of the mahapanchayat, Rajesh Chauhan.

SDM Darshan Singh, who arrived at the spot to pacify the villagers, said the contractor had abandoned the project and the NHAI had to get a new one on board. ‘The project will be resumed soon. If the work doesn’t begin within a month, we will initiate action against the NHAI,’ asserted Darshan Singh.

The memorandum outlines several demands, including the immediate resumption of construction, removal of encroachments on highway land, construction of U-turns for private vehicles, and the installation of foot-overbridges to ensure pedestrian safety. The flyover was approved in 2015 with the aim to ease congestion at Bilaspur Chowk. Its foundation stone was laid in March 2022 and it was scheduled to be completed by October 2024. Though the construction started, it was stalled time and again. Initially, the project was entrusted to the Programme Implementation Unit (PIU) of Rewari, but later, it was shifted to PIU, Jaipur.

The flyover, with a total length of 850m, has three sections. The project also includes the construction of smart vehicle underpasses.

The NHAI has attributed the delay to the shifting of power cables and rain. ‘Road diversion is in place but the condition of the road has deteriorated due to rain, which makes it difficult to excavate the road. We are hoping to complete it by January 2025,’ said Ajay Arya, project director of PIU, Jaipur.