Top officials from the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) last week visited the Delhi – Jaipur section of NH 48 to review the pace of maintenance activities.
The delegation comprising of the Road Transport and Highways Secretary Giridhar Aramane and NHAI Chairperson Alka Upadhyaya took stock of the situation and directed contractors engaged by the NHAI to complete the work at the earliest.
The high-level visit comes after stretches of the highway got waterlogged recently due to heavy rains which turned it into a nightmare for commuters.
The Delhi-Jaipur National Highway, which connects the national capital with capital of Rajasthan through Gurugram, runs for 225 kms through three states. It is also known as NH48, which was earlier called the NH8.
Once India’s most-celebrated highway, is a nightmare now. It has large potholes on the highway showing poor maintenance, besides water-logging issues on service lane.
Subsequent to this, NHAI has undertaken repair work of the highway at a total cost of Rs. 913 crores, by engaging as many as three separate teams of contractors.
One agency has been engaged for 64 km long Haryana portion and 161 km long Rajasthan portion has been awarded to another agency for faster construction.
A third contract has been awarded for construction of 15 new structures to resolve the frequent issue of traffic congestion on the Highway.
The critical locations like Vartika flyover, Rampura flyover, Dharuhera, Masani have been repaired and the progress on the other locations in Haryana portion is being expedited for faster completion.
The NHAI Chairperson, while reviewing the progress of maintenance works, advised for constructing proper diversions including widening of service roads to ensure smooth traffic movement prior to taking up construction of structures.
The issue of water logging and need for proper drainage for industrial waste of Bhiwadi was also discussed and state government officials were asked to put in coordinated efforts to resolve the issue.