UP Irrigation Dept to take up Rs 278-cr four-laning project in Faridabad

The Irrigation Department of Uttar Pradesh has initiated the process regarding the four-laning (widening) the road along the Agra Canal passing through the district. It has submitted a proposal regarding the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Faridabad Metropolitan Development Authority (FMDA) in this regard. Announced last year, the project is likely to cost Rs 278 crore.

Though the state government had approved the four-laning of the road, which has a length of around 20 km and runs on the left side of the canal’s bank, the work has failed to pick up pace for the past several months due to delay in formalities involved in terms of the ownership of the land. An FMDA official said the formal permission or sanction from the UP’s Irrigation Department, the owner of the land, was required to take up any work. The department, which had been approached for the project, has prepared a DPR and written to the FMDA for its approval of the MOU, before releasing the tender of the work.

The four-laning of the road will ensure easy accessibility and movement of the traffic meant for Greater Faridabad, Noida and Delhi as the present two-lane stretch is not wide enough to handle it. The demand for the widening of the road had come up several years ago. Starting from the Sector-37 bypass near the Delhi border, it will also serve the commuters moving to Ballabhgarh and the upcoming Greenfield Expressway to connect Faridabad with Greater Noida and Jewar Airport. The UP’s Irrigation Department had built the road along the canal as a service passage to keep a watch over the canal at the time of its inception.

The land pocket having a width up to 110 m on one side of the canal had been acquired by the Irrigation Department, which had built up the canal several decades ago to carry irrigation water from the Yamuna river to parts of UP. Any construction or repair on the land required the permission of the department concerned, said a senior official of the FMDA.

He said all bridges on the canal in the district had been built by UP Government, and that funds had been released by the state government or its departments in this regard. The FMDA will have to release the funds for the project, which will be taken up by the UP authorities as soon as the estimate is submitted.

Braj Kishore, Assistant Engineer, Irrigation Department, UP, said while the issue regarding the MOU to be signed had been taken up by the FMDA, the tendering process was likely to be started as soon as the required formalities were over. The work would be executed as per the existing protocol, said the FMDA official.