About 1,605 km of roads were constructed till the end of December 2012 under various phases of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP), the Economic Survey said recently. While the total length estimates to be at 5.94 km per day in nine months, projects for another 878 km to be constructed in the remaining three months of financial year 2012-13 have been awarded, says the survey.
As of December, six sectors including roads accounted for about 80 per cent of all stalled projects, and as many as 86 the total 146 projects were delayed. Detailing steps to boost the sector, the survey said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Board has approved formation of a high level expert settlement advisory committee for one-time settlement of old cases pending in courts, says the survey pointing the NHAI achieved 17.3 per cent growth in widening and strengthening of highways during April-November 2012.
Talking about delays in environment clearances, the economic survey said the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) has been requested to relax the condition of mandatory environment clearance (EC) for areas less than 5 hectare. Even as the road construction has dipped in recent months, the Economic Survey has appreciated the CentreÂ’s engineering procurement and construction (EPC) initiative for promoting highway development.
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