Shelved Ludhiana-Ropar highway revived, entire land made available

In a major development, the Ludhiana-Ropar highway has been finally revived with the possession of entire land acquired for the project, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has said.

The 37.7-km four to six-lane Greenfield highway was the third major NHAI project besides the Centre’s flagship Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway to be revived in the state after they were shelved/terminated for want of requisite land.

It was made possible after Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora engaged the protesting farmers with all stakeholders and official machinery to manage the possession of the entire land to build the Rs 2,900-crore big ticket project.

The Ludhiana-Bathinda highway and Southern Ludhiana Bypass were the other two NHAI projects, besides several packages of the Katra expressway that have already got parcels of remaining acquired land to resume the construction work.

The development assumes significance as these were the three Greenfield national highway projects in the state, having length of 104 km with a total capital cost amounting to Rs 3,264 crore, that had been terminated/ withdrawn due to the non-availability of land as per conditions precedent on the part of the NHAI within stipulated timelines.

It was in June that the concessionaire of the Ludhiana-Ropar highway had terminated the work and demobilised its resources from the site after waiting for over eight months of the peasants stalling the ongoing construction work against what they had been alleging “unfair compensation” for their lands under acquisition for the mega project.

Confirming the development, MP Arora told The Tribune on Wednesday that the entire land acquired for the project had been possessed and handed over to the contractor for resuming the work.

Acting swiftly, NHAI Project Director Priyanka Meena shot off a letter to the concessionaire, asking it to commence the work forthwith.

“This is to bring to your attention that after continuous efforts and possession drives in coordination with the district administration, the possession of entire 37.7-km project length has been acquired by pillar fixing,” Meena wrote while asking the construction firm to commence the work on the project and ensure that all necessary resources, including manpower and machinery, are mobilised at the site accordingly.

Before being shelved, over 15 per cent construction of 37.7-km stretch under Package 1 of the 116-km-long Greenfield project, including a 19.5-km spur from Pipal Majra to Kharar with the Ludhiana bypass, to be constructed at the cost of Rs 2,857.14 crore had already been achieved within the limits of Ludhiana district before the farmers had stalled the work on October 9 last.

Of the total 116-km project, the land rates to acquire the 50-km stretch had been put under arbitration to review and revise the acquisition award.

This major infrastructure development project was appointed in December 2022 with completion deadline of December 2024.

Arora said the work on Package 1 of the four to six-lane National Highway-205K from junction with NE-5 village near to Manewal in Ludhiana to junction with the NH-205 near Bheora village in Ropar, including spur to Kharar with Ludhiana Bypass, will be taken up on priority for its completion in the minimum possible time.

He said the agitating farmers were pacified by paying them fair compensation for their lands to avoid any further delay in the construction of the highway.

With Rs 951-crore civil cost and Rs 410-crore land acquisition cost, the total capital cost for Package 1, for which the work was awarded in September 2021 and began in December 2022 was Rs 1,368.91 crore for which 260 hectares of land was required. The Package 2, comprising 47.24-km stretch, involved a civil cost of Rs 1,035 crore and land acquisition amount of Rs 461.71 crore, taking the total capital cost to Rs 1,488.23 crore. However, the possession of land had been delayed under the package as well, for which the work had been awarded in December 2021.

Took up with NHAI top brass: MP

“I also took up the matter with Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and the NHAI Chairman, Santosh Kumar Yadav, to get the project restored and also impressed upon the state government to remove hurdles coming in the way of the highway construction,”said Sanjeev Arora, RS MP.

4-6 access-controlled highway okayed

The NHAI had approved 4-6 access-controlled highway with a route alignment connecting Manewal village in Ludhiana on the upcoming Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway with Bheora village near Ropar for the construction of the Greenfield expressway, which includes a 19.5-km spur from Pipalmajra to Kharar with the Ludhiana bypass and was to be developed under the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-1.

The expressway was to be built in three parts under the hybrid annuity model (HAM) mode, and will connect Ludhiana, Ropar and Mohali districts.

Under the HAM mode, 40 per cent of the the project cost was provided by the government as construction support during the construction period and the balance 60 per cent was paid as annuity payments over the operations period along with interest thereon to the concessionaire.

While three railway overbridges to be built under the project had also been approved by the Northern Railway, the plan and profile of the project had been submitted and the alignment had been approved.