APPROVES RS.315 CRORE FOR MAINTENANCE OF STATE HIGHWAYS, MAJOR DISTRICT ROADS AND OTHER DISTRICT ROADS
217 KMs OF ZIRAKPUR- BATHINDA ON NH-64 TO BE FOUR LANED AT A COST OF RS.2508 CRORE WITHIN TWO YEARS
CHANDIGARH MAY 21: Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today gave nod for the repair of link roads covering 11,000 KMs at a cost of Rs.1700 crore across the state to be completed by June, 2014.
Mr. Badal was reviewing the status of national highways, district roads, link roads, ROBs/RUBs, government buildings and several others infrastructure projects in a meeting here at Chief Minister’s residence this morning.
Meanwhile, the Secretary PWD (B&R) Mr. PS Aujla apprised the Chief Minister that the funds for the repair of link roads have been tied up and tenders would be invited soon so as to complete this gigantic task within a time frame. The repair work of link roads would be executed by the Mandi Board and PWD (B&R) department.
The Chief Minister also approved a massive project of Rs.315 crore for the maintenance and repair of state highways, major district roads and other district roads besides the maintenance of PMGYS roads in the state during the current fiscal.
Referring to the status of national highways projects, Mr. Aujla said that 230 KMs of 4/6 laning had been completed by National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) while the work on 400 KMs was in progress at a cost of Rs.3080 crore and 101 KMs new national highways were proposed with an investment of Rs.700 crore in the near future. Likewise, the construction work on 4-laning of 51 KMs and 166.445 KMs from Zirakpur to Patiala and Patiala to Bathinda section of NH-64 at an approximate cost of Rs.501 crore and Rs. 2007 crore respectively had been allotted on BoT basis and would be completed within next two years. Similarly, Amritsar-Sri Ganga Nagar road (NH-15) having a length of 296 KMs would also be constructed at a cost of Rs.2650 crore as the alignment had already been approved in principle by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways with 4-laning from Amritsar to Bathinda and 2-lane with paved shoulders (10 wide) from Bathinda to Rajasthan border via Malout-Abohar. Apart from these, Jalandhar-Jind road up to Haryana border (NH-71) with a length of 239 KMs was also proposed involving an investment of Rs.2440 crore in a phased manner, under which 4-laning from Jalandhar to Sangrur (via Nakodar-Shahkot-Moga-Barnala) and Sangrur to Patran up to Haryana border would be done in phase-I and II respectively.
The 4-laning of NH-15 from Pathankot to Amritsar with a total length of 102.42 KMs at a cost of Rs.800 crore would be completed by next month and the work on 4-laning of 78 KMs stretch (NH-95) from Ludhiana to Talwandi was in full swing at a cost of Rs.479 crore and was likely to be completed by March 2014.
The Chief Minister directed the Secretary PWD (B&R) to closely monitor the progress of ongoing road projects to ensure the quality construction of these ‘arteries of communication’ besides their timely completion. Mr. Badal asked him to get the civil works expedited for the 6-laning of NH-95 from Kharar to Ludhiana (68 KMs), Jalandhar to Dhillwan (20 KMs) and 4-laning of NH-21 Kharar to Kurali (15 KMs) from NHAI to ensure smooth and hassle free vehicular traffic to the commuters.
Mr. Aujla also told the Chief Minister that 33 ROBs/RUBs had been completed at a cost of Rs.565 crore and work was in progress on five ROBs at a cost of Rs.78 crore and four ROBs were proposed to be constructed at Kapurthala, Malerkotla, Gobindgarh and Northern Bypass Patiala at a cost of Rs.128 crore.
It was also informed in the meeting that a project of 637 KMs of roads under Pardhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) at a cost of Rs.319 crore would be taken up during the current financial year and the tendering process would be initiated soon. As many as 192 roads under PMGSY covering 588 KMs at a cost of Rs.765 crore were likely to be completed by December 2013.
The Chief Minister asked the Secretary Industries and PWD (B&R) to jointly explore the feasibility to allow mining of minerals like sand, gravel and earth (Mitti) to the major contractors on short term basis to operate concurrently on their projects as per the practice prevalent in Rajasthan and other states to ensure speedy execution and timely completion of their infrastructure projects on one hand and to tide over the scarcity of construction material on the other. Mr. Badal also asked the Mandi Board and PWD (B&R) to give the highest priority to the repair and maintenance of link roads, district roads and construction of bridges especially in the difficult areas of Kandi and Border.
Prominent amongst others who were attended the meeting included Special Principal Secretary Mr. Gaggandip Singh Brar besides the Chief Engineers of PWD (B&R).
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No.CMO-13/148
