It’s a long, long wait for KMP Expressway

Aditya DevOct 16, 2012, 08.03AM IST

GURGAON: Even as the Haryana and Delhi governments have set May 2013 the fresh deadline for completing the 135-km Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway, the project has made an overall progress of just about 70% so far.

The private concessionaire developing the expressway, KMP Expressways Ltd, on the other hand claims that the 53-km priority stretch between Manesar and Palwal is scheduled to be completed by November 2012 and will open to public by December. Over 85% work on the stretch has been completed, with all the 83 major structures ready and already connected to the main carriageway.

The major structures on the stretch include 14 small and big bridges, 8 cattle crossings, 12 agriculture vehicle underpasses, 23 pedestrian crossings, 21 underpasses and 5 box culverts.

At present, the final layer of dense bituminous macadam, the commonly used bituminous paving mixes in India, is being laid and has been done for up to 48 km of the total stretch of 53 km. The rest would be completed soon, said a spokesperson.

Completion of KMP Expressway will help de-congest traffic in the city as vehicles coming from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh and going to Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra will use it to avoid Delhi and Gurgaon.

The concessionaire made the commitment at a meeting held on June 8 2012 in Delhi between the chief ministers of Haryana and Delhi, to open the Manesar-Palwal section for tolling within the next 90 to 120 days and complete the expressway by May 31 2013.

Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had told TOI, "Decidedly, the progress on the project is slow and the concessionaire has been asked by various authorities including the high powered committee (expressway) Haryana, monitoring committee constituted by the Supreme Court, chairman/ EPCA for NCR, besides HSIIDC and an independent consultant, to speed up the work. The HSIIDC has already imposed damages on the concessionaire for delay in meeting the commercial operation date to the extent of 0.1 per cent of the total project cost per week or part hereof since July 30 2009 till the commercial operation date is met."

According to the chief minister's office, as per the latest progress report received from the concessionaire, the physical progress achieved up to July 31 2012 is 67.76 per cent (Rs 1,003.54 crore) with monthly physical progress of 0.03 per cent (Rs 0.39 crore). The concessionaire has intimated that the gross financial progress achieved up to July 31 2012 is 76.56 per cent (Rs 1262.04 crore) with monthly financial progress of 0.02 per cent (Rs 0.30 crore).

The concessionaire, on the other hand, blames a litigation case and difficulty in getting clearances from various agencies for project delay. "Right at the beginning of the project there was a delay of 18 months due to litigation by one of the consortium partners. The project got further delayed due to much time taken in getting clearances and approvals from specific authorities. These included delays in getting clearances for crossing Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. pipelines, relocation of high tension overhead transmission lines and land acquisition issues," said the spokesperson.

There were delays in getting the final design change approvals for the railway over bridges, grade separators and design changes done in the original design to address the concerns of the local villagers.

Najafgarh to get 3 flyovers

With an aim to initiate development projects in Najafgarh sub-city in Outer Delhi, Public Work Department (PWD) has decided to construct three flyovers at vital link roads at Najafgarh chowk. These flyovers will connect the areas with Gurgaon, Jhajjar and Bahadurgarh and also provide hassle-free traffic movement at this stretch.

Talking to The Pioneer, PWD Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan said that PWD had decided to construct three flyovers at Najafgarh chowk connecting Sai Dham Temple to Dhansa road, Dichaon Kalan depot to Dhansa road on Nangloi road and Haibatpura extension to Dhansa road to provide commuters hassle-free journey on this stretch. “The PWD has been directed to appoint consultant to conduct detailed drawings and traffic feasibility report for this purpose. This is the only stretch, which connects Gurgaon, Jhajjar and Bahadurgarh to Najafgarh chowk in Delhi. It is now important to decongest Najafgarh chowk in view of another proposal which is being ready between Jhajjar and Dwarka,” said Chauhan.

According to Chauhan, the proposed flyover between Sai Dham Temple and Dhansa road and Dichaon Kalan depot to Dhansa road via Nangloi will be two kilometre long while flyover from Haibatpura extension to Dhansa road will be about 0.700 kms long. The Najafgarh sub-city chowk in west Delhi is heavily crowded from four directions. The chowk is surrounding by thousands of villages in west Delhi, hence large number of pedestrians also use this chowk for reaching nearest bus stands — Delhi Gate, Chhawla, Dhansa, Nangloi, Sai Dham Temple and Bahadurgarh bus stand. Beside this, there are four schools located near Najafgarh chowk also use these roads as footpath. PWD officials say the traffic volume during the peak hours are very high at this stretch and traffic jam is a routine affairs at Najafgarh chowk.

Northern Railway set to add new features on EMU trains between Delhi-Bahadurgarh-Rohtak

The Northern Railway is all set to add new features on trains especially on suburban routes of national capital for the convenience of daily commuters.

These include inauguration of the newly electrified track on the Delhi-Bahadurgarh-Rohtak section and stainless steel coaches with advance audio-visual facilities like destination indicators and announcements about approaching stations as in the Delhi Metro. According to railways officials, electrification of Delhi-Bahadurgarh-Rohtak is complete and will soon see Electrical Multiple Unit, EMUs plying on the route.

The officials said, beginning of EMU services on this route will see improvement of traffic between Delhi-Bahadurgarh-Rohtak. The northern railway is also planning to increase the number of coaches from 12 to 16 and from 16 to 20 in the suburban routes, especially during peak hours.

Bahadurgarh railway station to run on solar energy

Bahadurgarh railway station to run on solar energy

Aimed at tapping more non-conventional energy, the Delhi division of Northern Railway is developing Bahadurgarh railway station, on the outskirts of Delhi, as a 'green' station.

While the energy requirement of the station would be met with solar energy, a water harvesting system is also being developed at the station premises for optimum utilisation of the resource.

Railway officials said solar panels would be installed on the station building and other suitable places.

“Solar power panel with a capacity of 20 KW is going to be installed at the station within the next two months. The power that is generated would be enough to for the power requirement of platforms, circulating area, booking office and the service buildings,” a senior Northern Railway official said.

A stand-alone solar light will also be provided at platforms to reduce electricity requirement from the main grid, the official added.

Officials said apart from harnessing alternate sources of energy, emphasis would also be on conservation of energy.

“The existing energy consuming lights will be replaced by energy efficient LED lights in the station building, circulating area and at the platforms.  All such efforts will help in drastically reducing  the power consumption. It will also result in substantial saving of revenue for railway,” the railway official said.

The expense in making the station green will be funded by the Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ltd.

While Bahadurgarh is one of the important and fast growing localities of neighbouring Haryana, its close proximity to the Capital has only spiked the rate of development in the city.

The city is located 19 km from the capital and it will be connected with Delhi Metro in its later phases. Officials said footfall at the station is likely to increase — from the current footfall of around 32,000 people per day — if the pace of development of the area.

“The station is being initiated as a pilot project. More stations in the division are likely to be developed on similar lines,” the official said.

Bahadurgarh industries in trouble due to poor law & order situation and lack of infrastructure

BAHADURGARH: Bahadurgarh industries find themselves in a cesspool of reasons threatening to blunt their market edge and in some instances even their force them to move out.

Achyut Bhardwaj, director of Chemi Kleen, a Naraina Industrial Area-based company, started from Bahadurgarh said, "Our distillation unit for manufacturing perfumes is in Bahadurgarh. However, issues like broken roads, absence of sewage lines and law and order have hit growth."

Now, they use the distillation unit there on a need-to basis. The state of shambles ensured realty prices here remained low. A reason why Chemi Kleen cannot profit in moving to a higher realty priced area. Bhardwaj said, "We cannot shift out because we would not profit from selling our land and factory here. Compared to areas in Noida, Gurgaon and Faridabad, we are left behind."

Pradeep Doot, assistant sales manager of Ruhil Developers said, "Property rate in Bahadurgarh is around Rs 2,255 per sq ft whereas in Gurgaon and Noida it is around Rs 5,000 per sq ft." Ruhil Developers has been in Haryana for the last 15 years and is a major realty player. It has clients like Radico, Jindal and Haryana Institute of Technology etc.

Transport, Sewage Issues

Pointing towards the transportaion, Bhardwaj said, "We cannot take our own trucks or vehicles to transport goods because the union there, acting like goons by stopping our trucks, want us to use their trucks."

Rakesh Pahuja, owner of New Leather, based out of Bahadurgarh Industrial Area also concurred. He said, "The unions want monoply. If a company spends Rs 1,200 for transporting goods through their own truck, the union charges double."

Apart from this, Pahuja also said that there are no sewage lines. "This is one of the biggest issues. The water overflows on the roads and the situation worsens with the monsoon. The government has not started the repair work," he complained.

Official Take

Gulshan Kumar, deputy general manager of Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) said, "There are no problems plaguing the industry here." Putting the onus on the proprietors he said, "Those who want to work, they make their own arrangements like using digisets, making sure that their work goes on. We have met the Industrial Association of Bahadur-garh and plan to set up a 132 Kv power plant which should be up in 5 months."

Due to electricity shortage, AH Brothers shifted out of Bahadurgarh. The owner explicated the decision by pointing to the endemic power cuts which were disrupting operations.

Vipin Bajaj, President, Bahadurgarh Chamber of Commerce and Industries said, "Small players barely survive due to tough competition from Chinese goods, imported cheap. Moreover, since these small industries are subject to stringent taxes and in the absence of a single tax authority, they are forced to bear costs of preparing reports and running to multiple authorities."

He also said that corporate firms of Gurgaon are the driving force behind the city whereas Faridabad is an auto ancillary hub. However, Bahadurgarh does not even have auto ancillary companies, which are a big source of employment generation. 

DELHI CHIEF MINISTER LAYS FOUNDATION STONE FOR TWO SUBWAYS

Delhi chief minister lays foundation stone for two subways

Sep 8, 2012,

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today laid the foundation stone for two subways at Rohtak Road near Multan Nagar and Maharaja Agrasen Hospital.

Speaking on the occasion, Dikshit said, "Our government has ensured planned development of Delhi, with an eye on the future."

A government official said, "The subways, which would be commissioned within eight months at an estimated cost of Rs 8.4 crore, would have lifts and power back-up and reduce road accidents."

Yogeshwar Dutt will set up a wrestling academy in Bahadurgarh

Yogeshwar Dutt will set up a wrestling academy in Bahadurgarh

Aug 27, 2012,

SONIPAT: For Yogeshwar Dutt, the London bronze medalist grappler, winning bronze is not enough. Besides hoping for another appearance in the next Olympics, he has also accepted an offer from the state government to set up a wrestling academy in Bahadurgarh.

In fact, he wants India to dominate in wrestling in the next Olympics at Rio de Janeiro. "We must target at least four gold medals, including wrestling, at Rio. And it's quite possible," he told TOI at the sidelines of the felicitation function in Gohana on Sunday.