Vinay Kochhar.CHANDIGARH.
The pace of 34 projects of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) in Punjab has slowed down considerably. These include Katra-Amritsar-Delhi Expressway.Attacks on NHAI officials and contractors due to land acquisition dispute and opposition from farmers and local leaders have also become a major obstacle in this.
Delay in NHAI projects
The delay in NHAI projects in Punjab can be gauged from the fact that in the year 2023-24, NHAI has issued tenders for 84.02 km of road network, which if compared with the year 2022-23, is only 18 percent. In the year 2022-23, the authority had issued tenders for 450.53 km of road network. Similarly, if we talk about the year 2021-22, then that year also tenders were issued for 326.07 km of road network. In this way, in the state, very little process could be started in the last financial year as compared to two years.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had informed in the Lok Sabha that the development of national highways is a continuous process. Many challenges have to be faced in implementing these projects. The government has taken various initiatives to expedite the project on the National Highway, including streamlining and expediting land acquisition and simplifying the Parivesh portal for forest and environmental clearance and other efforts. Along with this, meetings are also held with the concerned departments and stakeholders of the states. Despite all this, projects are getting delayed in many states. Punjab is the worst affected by this. This is the reason why NHAI has already closed three projects of 104 km, costing Rs 3263 crore.
Land acquisition stopped due to non-fixation of rates
In this important project, the construction of about 34 km of highway in Sangrur district has been completed. After this, the highway has been built to a large extent in Malerkotla district, there construction work is left in only four to five kilometers. This highway is passing through more than forty kilometers of area from Ludhiana district. There are problems in about thirty kilometers of area here. Due to non-fixation of rates with the farmers, the acquisition of land is also stopped.
Expert opinion
Traffic expert Rahul Verma says that this highway is also very important from the security point of view. In case of emergency, the movement of army from here to the border will be fast. Apart from this, religious tourism will also increase. Development will accelerate in districts like Sangrur, Malerkotla, Kapurthala, Gurdaspur of Punjab and this will also improve the economy of the state, because the movement of goods will also be fast.
The distance will be reduced by 58 km
The 699 km long Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Greenfield Expressway is being constructed at a revised cost of Rs 40 thousand crore. After its construction, one can reach Amritsar from Delhi in four hours and Delhi from Katra in six hours. Currently, the distance between Delhi and Katra is 727 km. With the construction of this expressway, this distance will be reduced by 58 km. This highway will connect Delhi with Goindwal, Tarn Taran. On the other hand, it will connect Amritsar with Nakodar.
These projects are getting affected
The revised deadline of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway Package-9 has now been fixed as August 1, 2025, because only 56.84 percent of the work of this project being built at a cost of Rs 2,337.33 crore has been completed.
The revised deadline for the 36.94 km Package-7 project worth Rs 1,711.03 crore has been set as November 30, 2024, as only 88.44 percent of its work has been completed.
If we talk about the 39.5 km Package-10 being built at a cost of Rs 2,260.67 crore, only 57.75 percent of its work has been completed.
The revised deadline for the 16.9 km Spur-1 being built for Amritsar connectivity at a cost of Rs 2,165.23 crore has been set as April 16, 2026.
The 35.28 km long Package-12 costing Rs 1,734.18 crore has now been targeted to be completed by December 31, 2025.
The new deadline for the 44.96 km Abohar-Fazilka NH-7 has been set as April 13, 2026.
Threat to set fire to the project’s camp office in Ludhiana
People protesting against land acquisition in Ludhiana had threatened to set fire to the project’s camp office. Chief Secretary Anurag Verma took cognizance and asked DGP Gaurav Yadav to take immediate action to ensure the safety of NHAI officials and contractors. The Chief Secretary said that this is a very serious matter. An FIR has been registered in this case, but no arrests have been made. NHAI regional officer Vipnesh Sharma had written a letter to the Chief Secretary expressing concern about the safety of NHAI officials, contractors and their workers.
Contractors, officials in Jalandhar left work and fled
National Highway Authority officials and contractors in Jalandhar have left work and fled. On July 20, a contractor’s employee was brutally attacked by villagers in Jalandhar. An FIR was also registered in this, but the guilty villagers were immediately granted bail. People have filed cases against NHAI and contractors in protest against the digging done to put soil on the highway here. Officials say that they are taking soil by paying money. They should either work or get embroiled in lawsuits. Here the government has failed in land acquisition. NHAI has not been able to get possession. Local leaders start protests every now and then, which is creating obstacles in the work.
Allegations of fraud in land acquisition in Amritsar, anger among farmers
There are obstacles on the way towards Dera Baba Nanak in Amritsar district. Due to this, this project is currently closed due to opposition from farmers. Jamhoori Kisan Sabha leader Ratan Singh Randhawa says that the farmers are not getting the right rates for the land being acquired under this project. Some agricultural land has been made commercial in the records by the officials. Many commercial buildings have been built on its way. Some officials did many wrong things with the land mafia to earn more profit, which was also investigated, but no action was taken against the accused. On the contrary, the farmers were exploited economically.