Government plans to set up panel to track execution of expressway projects

September 18, 2013

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By YASHODHARA DASGUPTA, ET Bureau |

A projects review earlier this month revealed that the NHAI is yet to resolve technical and other parameters in the Supreme Court-mandated expressways.<br /> — A projects review earlier this month revealed that the NHAI is yet to resolve technical and other parameters in the Supreme Court-mandated expressways.

NEW DELHI: The government plans to set up a panel to track execution of expressways, after the highways authority’s blueprints and groundwork for three projects put on the fast track by the Prime Minister’s Office in July were found lacking in multiple aspects.A projects review earlier this month revealed that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is yet to resolve technical and other parameters in the Supreme Court-mandated Eastern Peripheral Expressway and the Delhi-Meerut and Mumbai Vadodara expressways.

The government has now decided to form a committee comprising senior officials from the highways ministry, department of expenditure and the Planning Commission to track the Authority’s progress, said people with knowledge of the development. The committee will meet periodically, beginning this Saturday, and their observations will be reviewed by the PMO.

“The committee will hold periodic meetings to review the progress being made in implementing the expressway projects by the vertical set up under the NHAI last month for this purpose,” an official said.

According to the project review, the earthwork required to build a pass, or right-of-way, for the 135-km Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), may not even be available in the vicinity. It will now be necessary to re-examine the design and its cost implications.

The EPE, mandated by the top court eight years ago, is meant to handle heavy trucks and non-Delhi bound vehicles. The NHAI has already missed the August deadline for request for quotation for this job.

An official said that while the deadlines set by the PMO may be difficult to meet, its directive has brought to the fore the tardy progress made even the most basic legwork for these expressways.

Similarly problems plague the 125-km Delhi-Meerut expressway, where changes in the scope of the project would be required, which in turn would necessitate a modified proposal to be sent to the Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee. A decision is yet to be taken on how the utilities would be shifted—a must before any road can be built. The NHAI has been given a week to resolve this issue.

sOURCE-http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/