Having missed several deadlines, the 52-km-long Manesar-Palwal stretch of the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway has eventually been thrown open to traffic. The stretch is expected to be formally inaugurated by Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari, in the first week of April. The work on development of the KMP Expressway was started in 2006.
The much-delayed project got a new lease of life last year when in response to the Supreme Court orders dated January 30th, 2015, the State government took the decision to terminate the contract of the old concessionaire and have a new concessionaire. While the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development (HSIIDC) Corporation allotted work for the Manesar-Palwal section on Item Rate Mode in March last, the work for the remaining Kundli-Manesar section was granted in July. The Kundli-Manesar section is expected to be complete in a year’s time. HSIIDC, Managing Director, Sudhir Rajpal told The Hindu that the Manesar-Palwal section might be inaugurated by Mr. Gadkari on April 5.
The land acquired for the KMP project in Manesar mostly belongs to the residents of Panchgaon, a cluster of five villages of Kukrolla (largest of the five), Fazalwas, Gwalior, Chandla and Fukharpur. “Our land was acquired a decade ago rendering us jobless. Now with the road becoming operational, we hope to get some job as well. We make an appeal to the government to expedite the work for the proposed Indian National Defence University at Binola and proposed Inter-State Bus Terminus creating more job opportunities for the locals,” said Dharamvir, a fruit vendor.
