Labour shortage hits Kharar flyover work

Sanjay Bumbroo
Tribune News Service
Mohali, July 28

Shortage of migrant labourers has hit the completion of the Mohali-Kharar flyover, which had missed several deadlines in the past.

However, officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) say they would meet the deadline as they have pushed in heavy machinery to meet labour shortage.

Work delayed due to lockdown

The work has been delayed due to the lockdown in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of the migrant workers returned to their native places after the work on the project halted. The district administration gave permission to the NHAI to restart the work on April 19.

The National Highways Authority of India had handed over the Rs368-crore project to Larsen & Toubro that began construction in November, 2015. It was to be completed by December 2018.

After around four years, only 85 per cent of the work has been completed. The deadline to complete the work on the Kharar flyover has been extended by two more months to November.

The work has been delayed due to the lockdown in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of the migrant workers returned to their native places after the work on the project halted. The district administration gave the permission to the NHAI to restart the work on April 19.

NHAI project director KL Sachdeva said: “The work is now going on at a fast pace despite the fact that we are facing labour shortage. Now, we have pushed in heavy machinery to make up for the time lost. Workers are working day and night to meet the deadline”.

Sachdeva said earlier the work on the project was hampered due to the delay in the shifting of high-tension power cables. The power cables were shifted a month ago, which helped them in speeding up the work.

The National Highway where the flyover is coming up connects Chandigarh to parts of Punjab, besides Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. This leaves Kharar as a major bottleneck, with around 50,000 vehicles crossing the stretch daily.