NHAI may shut down crawling GQ projects

8220;It has finally been decided that contracts due for completion by June, if not ready, will be terminated. The GQ project has been long delayed and we have earlier terminated contracts and re-awarded them as well to ensure its timely completion, but that did not speed up the process. Also, the ministry is working on a plan to allow partial tolling on these sections. Say, if of a 55-km GQ stretch, 50 is four-laned and 5 km remain pending, we will toll 50 km,8221; a senior official of the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport 038; Highways said.

Partial tolling is being considered in order to offset some of the loss of revenue. Currently, despite 80-90 per cent of the stretches complete in certain sections, the NHAI is unable to toll them due to pockets of delay.

As many as 15 project stretches, spread across some 210 km, have been delayed for long, creating uncomfortable, two-lane pockets across largely four-laned highways, and these now face termination.

Some 21 projects are in the red, which the NHAI8217;s latest monthly report lists as 8220;contracts due for completion by this month, yet not completed8221;. All of these projects have already reported a 8220;time overrun,8221; ranging from 13 to 60 months and their 8220;anticipated completion8221; dates are all between March to June 2008.

8220;While there are some projects which were recently terminated and re-awarded and so, will drag on quite longer, pushing back 100 per cent completion of the GQ by another two years, we want to fold up the delayed projects,8221; added the official.