Tenders invited for widening of Pinjore-Nalagarh road
bika Sharma
Tribune News Service
Solan, June 1
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on May 28 invited tenders for the widening of the 31-km Pinjore-Nalagarh stretch of the National Highway No.105 to four lanes. Only 17.37 km of the highway lies in Himachal while the remaining is in Haryana. The bids will be opened on July 13.
The tender value has been pegged at Rs 731.67 crore and once allotted, the project is to be completed within 910 days. The process to acquire land is underway and compensation for structures acquired is also being disbursed, said NHAI Regional Officer GS Sangha.
“Around 400 of 649 acquired structures have been evaluated till now and the process to evaluate the remaining ones is underway. A compensation of Rs 26.71 crore has been paid for the structures acquired at 13 villages of Saraj Majra Lanana, Kishanpura, Manpura, Belikhol, Dhana, Khera Chak, Juddy Khurd, Tahi Wala, Khera Nihla, Rakh Ram Singh, Dadi Bhola, Nalka and Kirpalpur on May 25. These structures will be dismantled for the road project. Besides, Rs 172 crore has been disbursed for the land acquired,” said Mahinder Pal, SDM, Nalagarh.
As per the project design, 22 bridges and five flyovers will be constructed on the highway. Approved by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in 2014, the project has faced several stumbling blocks, including the high rate of compensation.
The four-lane highway will be 39 metres wide and 2,190 trees will be axed for the purpose. Initially, a 45-metre wide highway was to be constructed but the width was reduced to 39 metres last year to bring down the cost of land acquisition.
The project, which has been hanging fire for years, will be finally initiated now, as major impediments have been cleared. “Thousands of vehicles, including multi-axle trucks, carrying industrial goods, use this highway on a daily basis. Frequent accidents cause loss of human lives and the road widening will put an end to this,” said Sanjay Khurana, president, Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh Industries Association.
The high cost of land acquisition was a major stumbling block in the project. The NHAI had refused to fund the project, as the cost of land was much higher than the cost of the structures to be razed to widen the road.
