Member of Parliament Kartikeya Sharma on Wednesday raised the issue in Rajya Sabha of the reason for continuous construction work on the Delhi-Ambala National Highway-44 while its completion date is 31 March this year.
The ongoing project is likely to be completed by July 2024.
In response to the inquiry, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways indicated in a written response that the 8-lane project for the NH-44 segment between Mukarba Chowk and Panipat began on 27 October, 2016, with 910-day construction duration.
The 8-lane work on this stretch is targeted to be complete by 31March, 2023. But the work was abandoned by the concessionaire. After that, on the lead bankers’ request, a harmonic substitute agreement was formed on 8 June 2020, to finish the remaining work on the project stretch. The Covid-19, farmer agitation, and the ban on construction activities by the National Green Tribunal were the main causes of the delay in construction activities at the site.
NH-44’s Panipat-Ambala section 4-lane work has already been finished. Some additional works have been taken up in this section as follows:
The work of the 198.600 vehicular underpasses was taken up and re-construction work of a major bridge has been taken up as the existing bridge is in dilapidated condition due to its old construction.
Work on the construction of a major bridge of 115 km was taken up for the improvement of the shape of the bridge.
In another part of the question, he asked about the number of road accidents that occurred due to construction work on this National Highway between Delhi and Ambala during the last three years.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways informed that no major accidents or fatalities cases have been reported due to construction works on this project. All safety measures
