One year later, only 5% work done on National Highway-24

GHAZIABAD: The residents of the city seem to be skeptical of National Highways Authority of India’s commitment to wrap up the widening of the highway from four lanes to fourteen in the stipulated time. The project was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 31, 2015.
In response to a recent complaint filed by Alok Kumar, founder of Federation of Association of Apartment Owners, on December 26, the NHAI had said that the work would be completed by December 2018, which accounts for a period of 910 days.
However, residents said that despite being under construction from December 2015, the project has seen very little development till date.
Madhuri Gupta, a resident of Ashiana Greens, a residential society in Indirapuram located a few hundred meters away from the highway, said the project was inaugurated a year-and-a-month ago but hardly 5% work has been completed. “They have been working at an extremely slow pace and 2016 is over. How will they complete the work in the remaining time," asked Gupta.
Echoing similar sentiments, Sanjay Jha, a resident of Crossings Republik, said that it is tragic that a major development work concerning the welfare of lakhs of residents has been stalled for so long. “Although we have written assurance from NHAI, we don’t believe in it. We have not seen much work done in the past one year,” Jha said.
The road-widening is being undertaken in three sections — from Nizamuddin Bridge in Delhi to UP Gate, from UP Gate to Dasna, and from Dasna to Hapur.
According to NHAI, the contracts have already been awarded for Nizamuddin Bridge in Delhi to UP Gate and Dasna to Hapur. While bids for the work on the stretch from UP Gate to Dasna are under evaluation, the response also maintains that efforts are being made to complete the stretch between Delhi to Hapur by December 2018.