Panipat-Jalandhar highway to be completed in June, says firm

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, April 14

If one were to sum up the constriction of the Panipat-Jalandhar highway on NH-1 in a few words, it will be: delays and more delays.

Soma-Isolux, contracted to construct the six-lane highway, sought several extensions, but failed to honour the deadline every time.

There is, however, good news. The company says the project will be completed in two months.

The work to widen the 291-km stretch from Panipat to Jalandhar was started in May 2009 by Soma-Isolux. It was to be completed by November 11, 2011.

The company had to build 71 flyovers, five viaducts, 44 underpasses, 58 pedestrian underpasses and eight railway overbridges.

In Karnal district, 16 flyovers were to be constructed; 15 have been opened to traffic and the 16th flyover near Baldi village is under construction.

The deadline was extended to March 2012 and later to March 2015. Subsequently, the company had moved the Supreme Court to extend the deadline by eight months. The matter is pending in the court.

“The project is about to be completed. The constriction of the flyover near Baldi village is going at a fast pace. Hopefully, the Panipat-Jalandhar highway will be completed in June,” Deepak Lamba, monitoring officer of Soma-Isolux.

The delay has left residents miffed. Sukhram Bedi of the city’s Sector 4 said the construction caused several accidents. “The government should have ensured that the work should have been completed within the deadline,” he added.

Pawan of Baldi said the people faced several problems because of the lethargic approach of the company. “We have to cover extra distance to reach Karnal,” he added.