The much-delayed Dwarka Expressway project will be now taken up by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) this November. The expressway project has been caught in an unending loop of delays over the last decade. According to a TOI report, the NHAI is ready to start work on the expressway’s Haryana section and the authority is also ready to complete the formalities within four weeks along with major construction giant L&T, which will construct the 18-km long stretch. However, work on the Delhi section of the expressway will start later. At present, the government of Delhi is working on the proposal to allow cutting of trees on the 9.5 km long section of the expressway, which falls under the national capital.
A senior ministry official was quoted in the report saying that recently, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India, Nitin Gadkari asked the contractors to mobilise men and machinery in order to start construction work at Dwarka Expressway without any further delay. The construction of the expressway project has been divided into five ‘packages’, out of which L&T has bagged two of them in Gurgaon while Reliance Infra and J Kumar have bagged one each in the national capital. The highway minister is also likely to seek time from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to launch the expressway from Gurgaon.
According to an official who was present at a high-level meeting on Dwarka Expressway, there is no issue left in the Haryana portion which is to be addressed and work can start latest by mid-November. He further added that work on the Delhi section can start once the permission is granted for transplantation and cutting of around 13,000 trees. Officials mentioned that the process to get permission may take from 30 to 75 days.
Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) Chief was also quoted saying that the administration in Gurgaon has decided to fast-track transfer of the remaining land to NHAI. The land is available on the Gurgaon side to start construction. The GMDA Chief further added that the official transfer of land will be done by Huda under the company’s charge.
