The plan to decongest New Delhi by diverting vehicular traffic not bound for the National Capital via the 136-km-long Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway Project has received a boost with Haryana now putting the project – that had been moving at a snail’s pace for five years – on fast track.
The Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructural Development Corporation (HSIIDC), which is the executing agency for the six-lane Expressway, said construction work has been put on the fast track and it would now be completed within three years. A spokesman said work on the Expressway, slated to pass through Sonepat, Jhajjar, Gurgaon, Mewat and Palwal districts, has been resumed in two phases -- Manesar-Palwal and Manesar-Kundli. While the Manesar-Palwal section would be completed in nine months, the Manesar-Kundli section would be completed in two years.
The project would not only provide a high speed link between north and south Haryana but would also decongest New Delhi as traffic not meant for it would be able to bypass it. It also seeks to reduce pollution in the National Capital.
Unjustified claims
The spokesman said the earlier concessionaire not only failed to complete the work in time but also raised unjustified claims which led to inordinate delay in the project. But now, the State Government has decided to complete this project in a time bound manner.
The new concessionaire would commence the work within one month after getting the contract. The corporation has initiated the process of inviting bids on both build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis for the balance work of 136 kilometres and simultaneously on item rate basis for the Manesar-Palwal section of expressway.
The Supreme Court in its order dated January 30, 2015, had directed the State Government to award the contract for the project to a new concessionaire within two months time and that the new concessionaire should commence the work within one month thereafter.
