New Delhi: Four National Highways (NHs) projects passing through Odisha’s Dhenkanal district are delayed mainly due to delays in land acquisition, forest clearance and slow performance of contractors.
As per the revised schedule, the target for completion of these projects is March 2024. The amount of cost escalation in these projects for the delay in the completion of work has not been finalized.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
The Government is closely monitoring the construction of NHs. Periodic reviews are held at various levels to resolve issues and expedite the progress of all NH projects. Delayed projects including Dhenkanal are also monitored.
A time limit of 2-3 years is generally kept for the completion of new NH projects. However, construction works on NHs sometimes fall behind schedule due to various reasons like delay in land acquisition, delay in fulfilment of Government’s condition precedent like various clearances, utility shifting, delays on the part of Contractors/Concessionaires including cash flow issues etc.