Expressway connecting four states back on track

Kohli said, “The project is scheduled to be completed by July 2009 and massive work has already been initiated on the it. This includes concrete work for underpasses, overpasses and irrigation bridges as well as setting up of concrete batching plants and earthwork activities.”

The firm claimed to have launched a massive construction drive with 1,400 employees on the project and spent Rs 384 crore. The Indian Express travelled through parts of the expressway under construction and found that while the piling work and construction of foundations for the over 500 structures were underway, the carpeting of the road was yet to begin.

Roads

Though earthwork of nearly 80 cubic metre has been undertaken by DS Construction so far and the road levelling exercise is complete, the contractors have carpeted only one kilometre with bitumen near Karkari village. While road carpeting is one of the essential components of constructing the expressway, contractors said work will speed up only after the monsoon.

Culverts

The construction of a culvert, nearly 10 km off NH-8, meant to channelise water from the nearby areas is under construction. While there are 292 culverts or cross-drainage works to be constructed across the entire stretch between Palwal and Kundli, 70 culverts have been constructed so far and 131 are under construction; 28 per cent of the work has been completed and 44 per cent of the work is underway.

Underpasses

The construction of an underpass for passage of agricultural vehicles is underway. The expressway has 33 agricultural vehicular underpasses and 27 underpasses through village roads. The project has 16 underpasses and overpasses planned at crossings of state highways and major district roads. The foundations have been laid for 10-odd structures and more than 100 piles have been completed so far.

Railway over-bridges

There are four railway over-bridges planned along the stretch, but these are yet to be constructed. According to DS Construction, the Railways have approved the concept plan as well as the design.

Grade-separators

There are three grade separators planned at cross-points of three highways — NH-1, NH- 8, NH-10. The three major structures will provide speedy connectivity to traffic on all the national highway intersections. The structures will be large interchanges with slip roads and side lanes for local as well as long-route vehicles. Only the design for the interchange at NH1 has been approved so far.

Land acquisition

There are 64 villages within 500-metre vicinity of the expressway. The total land required for the project is 3,300 acres. It has been acquired by HSIIDC and handed over to DS Construction so far.

Opening New Vistas

The expressway takes off from Kundli in Sonepat on NH-1 to pass through Bahadurgarh in Jhajjar on NH-10, Manesar in Gurgaon on NH-8, to terminate at Palwal near Faridabad on NH-2. This is being built on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis. The concessionaire for the project had been approved for a period of 23 years and would end on April 20, 2030. The project was proposed by the Om Prakash Chautala government and took off in 2006. Madhucon Projects limited — one of the firms of the consortium formed by DS Construction and Apollo Enterprises Limited — went to court after being kept out of the Special Purpose vehicle (SPV) formed subsequently. The matter was put to rest in the high court in March 2008.

The project is believed to have the capacity to open new vistas for mega industrial, commercial and residential projects, including the much-hyped Reliance SEZ and Rajiv Gandhi Education City. “The Industrial Model Township of Manesar and another one proposed in Sonepat would be near the expressway. We are monitoring the progress of the project on a monthly basis to ensure that it gets completed within the given deadline,” said Rajeev Arora, MD, HSIIDC.

Structures along the Expressway

•3 Grade separators have been proposed at places where the expressway will cross the National Highways

•16 Overpasses and underpasses have been proposed at crossings of state highways and major district roads

•7 Overpasses

•9 Underpasses

•4 Railway over-bridges

•21 Bridges

•27 Underpasses have been proposed at crossings of village roads

•33 Agricultural vehicular underpasses

•31 Cattle crossing passages

•61 Pedestrian crossing passages

•292 locations for cross-drainage works

•2 Truck parking

•4 Bus bays