NHAI seeks police protection for construction of Eastern Peripheral Expressway in UP, Haryana

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has asked the police chiefs of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to provide security to its officials and contractors executing the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE).

The NHAI had earlier moved the Supreme Court with an interlocutory application seeking “police protection from unwarranted obstruction from miscreants and vested interests,” who were obstructing construction of the expressway.

The apex court has set July 2018 as the deadline for completion of the EPE. But according to the NHAI, vested interests in the districts of Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar and Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh and Sonepat in Haryana had obstructed commencement of the work. This despite land having been formally acquired and contractors appointed “from amongst the best companies of the country.”

The Solicitor General of India had sought the Supreme Court’s intervention, after which the court directed the Director Generals of Police of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to ensure all requisite protection to NHAI officials and contractors to carry out their work on the EPE.

The NHAI has also provided a list of specific points where the obstruction has been most perceptible. The highway authority expects the Supreme Court directive to facilitate the speeding up of the construction in view of the huge mobilisation of resources undertaken by contractors for all the six packages into which the project is divided.

Source : BS Motoring