By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Thursday said, the Government is closely monitoring the construction of National Highways (NHs). Periodic reviews are held at various levels to resolve issues and to expedite progress of all NH projects. Delayed projects including Dhenkanal in Odisha are also monitored.
A time limit of 2-3 years is generally kept for completion of new NH projects. However, construction works on NHs sometimes fall behind schedule due to various reasons like delay in land acquisition, delay in fulfillment of Government’s condition precedent like various clearances, utility shifting, delays on the part of Contractors/Concessionaire including cash flow issues etc.
Four NH projects passing through Dhenkanal district in the State of Odisha are delayed mainly due to delay in land acquisition, forest clearance and slow performance of contractor. As per the revised schedule, target of completion of these projects is March, 2024. Amount of cost escalation in these projects for delay in completion work has not been finalized.
