Pinjore-Nalagarh road widening moves at a snail’s pace
Ambika Sharma
Tribune News Service
Solan, August 18
Barely 30 per cent work to widen the Pinjore-Nalagarh highway has been executed in 27 of total 30 months of the project. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has served a notice on the executing company to speed up work.
A 36-km stretch of the highway from Pinjore to Nalagarh is to be widened to four lanes. Of the total length, 17.37-km portion lies in Himachal and the remaining in Haryana. The four-lane road will have 104 culverts, 16 minor and five major bridges.
The work to widen the road stretch falling in Haryana is a major cause for concern for the NHAI. “As per the norms prevailing in Haryana, a project has to have an environmental impact assessment if more than 14 to 15 per cent mined material comprises boulders,” said Anand Dahiya, Project Director, NHAI.
He added that more earth was required to do profile correction as the new carriageway, which had been constructed, was higher than the existing road. Therefore, the quantum of mining activity was more and this was attracting the EIA norms, which is a tedious procedure requiring several months. Efforts to fetch mud from other places was not economically feasible.
The executing agency was facing several other impediments as land was available in a piecemeal manner. With a 66 kv power station serving Vardhman Textiles and pipe lines of Adani Gas company yet to be removed, the availability of total encumbrance-free land was being delayed. The presence of habitation along the road and ownership disputes had further delayed the disbursement of timely compensation.
Thousands of vehicles use this highway on a daily basis and so the company has to make available two lanes to keep the traffic running.
“The company will be granted the extension of time up to Match 2025 to complete the work as it is unlikely to complete it within the stipulated deadline of October 2024,” added Dahiya.
It is necessary to widen this highway that links the state’s industrial hub of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh where the passenger car unit (PCU) norm has reached nearly 35,000 per day. A road is eligible for four-laning after it attains the 20,000 PCU norm.
