Southern Bye Pass, Ldh-Ropar Highway, VUPs on Jalandhar Bypass on agenda as MP Arora meets NHAI Chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav

Ludhiana, September 2, 2024: MP (Rajya Sabha) from Ludhiana Sanjeev Arora today met with the Chairman of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Santosh Kumar Yadav, to discuss various issues pertaining to NHAI projects in Ludhiana.

During the meeting, MP Arora apprised the Chairman that a substantial portion, approximately 92.06%, of the required land for the construction of the Southern Bypass greenfield highway project has already been handed over to the NHAI. Chairman apprised MP that this will be cleared in a meeting to be held on 16th September and then tendering process will start. This project will now be taken up under the National Highway Original (NHO) works of NHAI. 

Arora also informed the Chairman that the 30 Kms of land acquisition process for the Ludhiana-Rupnagar (Ropar) Greenfield Highway Project, Package 1, has been completed and handed over to the NHAI. He requested the Chairman's immediate attention to this matter and urged him to instruct the relevant officials to expedite the commencement of construction work by the contractors. Chairman instructed his staff to ask the contractor GR infraprojects Ltd to start work immediately even if the contract time has elapsed. 

Additionally, Arora highlighted the issues brought up by MLAs Daljit Singh Grewal (Bhola) and Madan Lal Bagga from Ludhiana regarding the construction of Vehicular Underpasses (VUPs) at several locations on Jalandhar Bypass, including Subash Nagar to Sunder Nagar Chowk, Kailash Nagar Chowk, Kakowal Chowk–Shekhewal, Kali-Bindra Colony, Pringle Ground, and Jassian Road to Guruhar Rai Nagar crossing. Chairman instructed his staff that these should be taken care of by RO as these are within his powers and should be taken care of immediately as these being accident prone sites called as Black spots. However, he warned that people will have to face trouble due to a lot of traffic during the time of construction.

Arora also apprised the Chairman of the significant challenges faced by commuters and industry due to the deteriorating condition of the service road from Dhandhari Kalan side to Sherpur Chowk towards Avon Cycle. He informed the Chairman that the underpass at Dhandhari Bridge is narrow and, due to waterlogging, it is inoperable, severely impacting the operations of industries, the movement of pedestrians, and the overall traffic flow in the vicinity. The contract for new drain with the latest technology has already been awarded and the contractor will be pushed to get it finished at the earliest possible but no later than December of 2024.

The NHAI Chairman, Santosh Kumar Yadav, took cognizance of all the issues raised by Arora and instructed Member Technical Alok Deepankar and CGM Punjab Prashant Khodaskar to address them at the earliest.

Arora's diligent follow-up with the officials of NHAI in Punjab and his efforts to improve the Ludhiana and Punjab's road infrastructure were highly appreciated by the Chairman. During the meeting, Arora stressed that building roads not only connect cities but also brings economic development to the region. He assured the Chairman that he will do whatever it takes within his capacity as an MP to help NHAI in implementing of its projects.