If the showpiece Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway has now become a case study of the overall slowdown in national highway projects across the country, 92 km away from Delhi there is reason for hope. So what is quietly being hailed as the country’s longest flyover at 10 km, in Panipat, is also one of those few National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) projects which are ahead of schedule. Against a completion target of 66 per cent till now, the six-lane elevated highway is already 91 per cent complete.“The project is definitely going to beat its deadline. While its original deadline was June 2009, seeing the high progress rate, it was moved up by six months to January 2009. That in itself is rare in road projects as deadlines are only extended further. It is now expected that the project will be completed and even thrown open to public by September 2008,” said a senior NHAI official.The reason behind the good pace is the nature of the project. “This is a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) project being implemented by Larsen & Toubro for NHAI. The Rs 270-crore project is running ahead of schedule because the contractor has expedited work considerably, with 24-hour construction, mobilisation of resources and labour, and more importantly, hurry to construct the facility and toll it. That is the whole purpose of a BOT-based project, and it works well for us as well,” added the official.The good news is that the Panipat project may set an example for others to follow. The Salem to Karur and Madurai section along NH-7 and NH-47 in Tamil Nadu, spread across 290 km, is also moving ahead of schedule.“Three projects along NH-7 are showing good progress. Most of them are lined up for a January to April 2009 completion date, but we hope to see them completed by end of 2008. While land acquisition has dogged this project stretch considerably, we have started work even on unacquired stretches, taking land owners along with us. The BOT nature of the project ensures early completion as slow work only means that contractors lose toll revenue,” said an NHAI official from Salem.
