After the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway, other stalled National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) projects have also started taking off in the state. The Ludhiana-Ropar and Ludhiana-Bathinda highways have got parcels of remaining acquired land to resume the construction work.
The development assumes significance as these were two of the three Greenfield national highway projects in Punjab, having length of 104-km with total capital cost amounting to Rs 3,264 crore, that have been terminated/withdrawn due to non-availability of land as per conditions precedent on the part of the NHAI within the stipulated timelines.
The stalled highway projects were put back on track after Chief Secretary Anurag Verma started taking weekly review of the NHAI issues by holding marathon meetings with the Deputy Commissioners every Friday and engaged with the farmers protesting against land acquisition for the past three months.