Karnal-Kaithal highway may miss March deadline
Parveen Arora
Tribune News Service
Karnal, October 13
Most of the major roads connecting the district headquarters to the rural areas as well as with other districts are either in pathetic condition or the work to widen them is running at a snail’s pace, hampering the smooth movement of vehicles.
The incomplete work is likely to pose problems during foggy days as at several places the construction companies have dug the road and have not installed sign boards and reflecting tapes to avoid accidents.
The widening work of the Karnal-Kaithal state highway-8 is likely to miss the March 2021 deadline as around 60 per cent work has been completed so far, sources said. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had laid the foundation stone of this 49-km stretch on February 28, 2019, and the work was started in March.
A major stretch in Nissing is incomplete, causing inconvenience to the commuters as well as the nearby shopkeepers.
“Stones are scattered everywhere on the road, posing threat to shopkeepers when any vehicle passes by,” said Naresh Kumar, a shopkeeper.
The four-laning of the Karnal-Indri state highway project has missed the second deadline of March 31, 2020, and another deadline has been fixed as December 31. It seems the project is unlikely to meet this deadline as well as around 70 per cent work has been completed so far. The slow progress of work on the project of 19.5-km stretch, costing of Rs 86.43 crore, has made it accident-prone.
The central verge is yet to be completed. The Chief Minister had laid the foundation stone of this project on July 21, 2017. The project was to be completed by December 2019, but the government had extended the deadline to March 31, 2020.
“We have been facing a lot of problems due to slow pace of work. At night, the incomplete work on central verge poses accident threat to commuters,” said Nikhil Kumar, a resident of Indri.
The Karnal-Jind National Highway-709A widening project was inaugurated a few days ago, but still the project has not been completed. Assandh Congress MLA Shamsher Singh Gogi had also raised questions on it. “The road has not been completed near Assandh, while drain works are lying pending at Jundla, Jalmana and near Assandh town, causing inconvenience to people, but it was inaugurated without completion,” said Assandh MLA Shamsher Singh Gogi.
Widening work of around 23-km long project of Nilokheri-Nigdhu road is also running at a snail’s pace. The deadline of the project, costing around Rs 27 crore, has been fixed as March 31, 2021, but still around 60 per cent work has been completed, sources said.
The completion work of the four-laning project of Karnal-Kunjpura road is hanging fire as the work on the bridge is yet to be started. Roads of various colonies in the Chief Minister constituency are in pathetic condition. The authorities claim the work will be completed before the deadline.
Dalel Singh Dahiya, XEN, PWD, said the contractors had been directed to finish the work before the deadline.
Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav said he had reviewed the progress of the projects and had fixed deadlines of November 2020 for the completion of the Karnal-Indri road, Karnal-Jind national highway and the Karnal-Kunjpura road.
