Slow pace of work adds to motorists’ woes

Tribune Reporters

Panipat/Sonepat, December 4

Motorists face regular traffic jams due to slow pace of widening of the National Highway-1 from Mukarba Chowk in Delhi to Panipat.

Ashish Jain, Project Director, NHAI, the 70-km-long stretch between Mukarba Chowk and Panipat was being widened to 12 lanes at a cost of nearly Rs 2,000 crore. The road would have 29 minor bridges, 10 flyovers, five vehicular under passes, five passenger under passes, 11 foot over bridges and 15 major road junctions on the highway, he said. Jain said the highway would have service lanes on both sides and it was likely to be completed by March 2019. “The work has now been speeded up and we hope to complete it on time, Jain added.

The construction work has created problems for motorists at several places, mainly at crossings over the drains in Sonepat district. At these points, the existing facility of six lanes has been reduced to just to two lanes and vehicles get stuck or move at a snail’s pace. Moreover, the NHAI has not made any arrangement to regulate the vehicles at these points.

Another traffic problem is being faced at a crossing point between Kundli and Rai as the construction of a road overbridge is in progress. Temporary structures put up in an unplanned way at the newly set up toll barrier near Bhigan village have also created problems in smooth flow of the traffic.

Vehicles diverted between Machroli and Karhans villages on the NH-1 cause traffic jam in Panipat city.

Amajeet Singh, a resident of Ludhiana, said he got stuck in a traffic jam for more than an hour in the city today.

Pramod Kumar, a resident of Yamunanagar, said he had to go to Delhi for business purposes and had to regular traffic jams regularly due to the construction work. “The absence of safety signs on the highway poses threat to the lives of commuters,” he added.

Sumeet Kumar, a resident of Model Town in the city, said he had to visit Delhi on regular basis and he had to face frequent traffic jams due to mismanagement of the vehicles on the NH-1.