The Highways Ministry has written to the Election Commission seeking its approval to continue awarding work in the higher terrains of Himachal Pradesh where connectivity was almost lost after flash floods and rains ravaged the roads and foot over bridges last year.
“We have sought its permission to allow us to continue our reconstruction and repair work in the higher regions of the hill State as a lot of roads were lost to the incessant rains last June,” said a senior official from the Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
“We have written to the EC saying that these are not new projects but merely development, repair and reconstruction work which needs to be completed before the onset of monsoon this year. These projects needed to be undertaken urgently,” he said.
According to the official, delay in approvals would not just inconvenience people who have lost connectivity to higher reaches but will also result in cost escalations.
“Most of these projects are on annuity mode where Government will repay the entire amount in installments to private companies,” he said.
The Ministry has also requested the EC to allow them to award road works for close to 60 road projects involving over Rs20,000 crore investments. “Finances for about 55 works have been sanctioned by the Ministry in the past one month. The financial approvals came before the poll dates were announced. We now need to take permission to award them,” said an official.
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has called for fresh financial bids for 22 more projects, which are likely to be opened by mid April. “We are expecting that the bids for all the 22 projects will be opened by the end of April. So, we need to take the prior approval from the EC,” said a Government official.