27 august 2024 : Highway initiatives, particularly the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway, are making significant progress as the acquisition of land approaches completion and construction activities are accelerating within the state. These projects had faced numerous challenges due to farmers’ protests regarding land acquisition.
Currently, three districts have successfully provided the full land required for the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) flagship initiative, while five additional districts—through which this ₹39,000 crore expressway traverses—are also making concerted efforts to facilitate the development of the multi-state Greenfield Corridor.
This advancement is particularly noteworthy as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to assess the status of NHAI projects in Punjab and other states on August 28.
With the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway being a priority in the Prime Minister’s upcoming high-level meeting, the state government, having faced criticism from the Centre, has initiated discussions with protesting farmers to resolve issues by offering increased compensation and informing them about legal measures against unlawful occupation of acquired lands.
Chief Secretary Anurag Verma informed The Tribune on Monday that the districts of Patiala, Sangrur, and Pathankot have transferred possession of all the land necessary for the construction of this 669-km four-lane access-controlled highway, which connects Jasaur Kheri in Jhajjar district near Delhi to Katra, located north of Jammu city. The remaining five districts—Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Malerkotla, and Gurdaspur—have also achieved up to 97 percent progress in this regard.
He emphasized that the entire civil and police administration has been mobilized to ensure the complete acquisition of land and the timely and orderly construction of all highway projects, particularly the Katra expressway, throughout the state.
According to the current status report, a copy of which is with The Tribune, the land possession of entire 22.87-km Package 5, 30.91-km Package-6 in Patiala and Sangrur districts and 9-km Package-14 in Pathankot district of the expressway has been taken and handed over to the NHAI
While Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts have given 97 per cent land for 39.5-km Phase-1 of Package-10, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Sangrur and Malerkotla have cleared 96 per cent land for 43.04-km Phase-1 Package-9 and 36.8-km Phase-1 Package-8.
Similarly, 83 per cent land has been given for 43.02-km Phase-1 Package-11 in Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Gurdaspur districts, while 35.09-km Phase-1 Package-8 passing through Ludhiana and Malerkotla districts has been cleared 69 per cent of all encumbrances.