Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, June 9: Completion of India’s largest road tunnel connecting Chenani with Nashri on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway is all set to miss the deadline as the progress of ongoing work by the newly engaged construction companies is not up to the mark.
Ever since the break up between the Main Developer, IL&FS Transportation Network Limited and the erstwhile Main Contractor M/s Leighton Contractors (India) Pvt Ltd, in November last year, the progress of work on construction of this tunnel has slowed down, official sources informed the Excelsior.
The work is not in full swing and getting hampered because of certain problems like area restrictions, house keeping, mug disposal and lack of co-ordination among the multiple agencies engaged for the construction of tunnel, sources explained.
The progress of work, which was having more than satisfactory pace and advance by five months from the scheduled targets till last August, is now lagging around two months beyond the schedule.
Pertinent to mention that scheduled date of completion of this Rs 2519 crores project is May 2016 and the executing agency was earlier hopeful of finishing the job by December 2015, around five months ahead of the deadline because of more than satisfactory pace of work.
However, a controversy over payments and claims led to slowing down of the work and then complete abandoning of job by the Leighton in November last after which the Main Developer engaged multiple agencies for completion of the project.
Under the new arrangement, the Developer engaged five separate construction agencies for executing different works. While the excavation job has been allotted to Beig Constructions, two different agencies have been engaged for Lining and two more for Outer works on both ends of the tunnel.
The involvement of multiple agencies in the execution of project has led to a number of problems, particularly lack of coordination, which are adversely affecting progress of the ongoing work, official sources said and added that completion of the tunnel is bound to get delayed if remedial measures are not taken immediately.
When contacted, Project Director, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), R P Singh admitted some delay in progress of the tunnel work and said that the project would be completed by July 2016, instead of May 2016. “Earlier, the progress of work was five months in advance and now we are two months beyond the schedule but this delay is within permissible limits,” he said.
While elaborating, Mr Singh said that the progress of work is measured in milestones and so far seven milestones have been accomplished while the eighth one is scheduled to be achieved by this month. After the scheduled time, a three- month grace period is accorded in case of failure to achieve the targeted milestone and the NHAI would claim damages if the delay exceeds this permissible limit, he explained.
It may be mentioned here that more than seventy five percent work on the project has been completed while only five-six meters of excavation on the 9 km main tunnel is pending.
The tunnel is part of proposed four-laning of Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and will act as an all-weather alternative to the existing NH-1A section connecting Chenani in Udhampur with Nashri in Ramban district. It will also reduce the existing road distance between the two points from 41 kms to 10.89 kms.
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