GMADA has decided to spend Rs. 5 crore more on the Airport Road in order to ensure smooth drive for the commuters.
The road is in a very pathetic condition and the stretch from North Country Mall to Ambala road needs repair work. The repair work has already been started.
According to Ravi Bhagat, Chief Administrator of GMADA, the contractor will bear the cost of profile correction, crack sealing and BDM and only the cost of laying the bituminous concrete layer, which will be between Rs 4 crore and Rs 5 crore will be borne by GMADA.
Due to uneven surfaces at many places, the road is dangerous to drive on and also the road has witnessed around 25 deadly accidents till now.
GMADA to receive a special cess from Promoters
As GMADA did not have enough funds to construct a road it is charging a special cess from the promoters of multi-housing projects. All the promoters whose projects fall within 1 km on either side of the road would have to pay a cess of RS. 5 lakh per acre. The cess was being collected from the NH-21 (Mohali-Kharar T-point) to Sector 74 and is still being charged. The promoters can charge this cess from the buyers of the property.
Remedial Measures by the Panel
After looking at the poignant condition of the Airport Road, a 4 member committee was constituted on 26 September by the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh. The committee compromised of the Chief Minister’s Technical Adviser, Lt Gen BS Dhaliwal; Chief Engineer (GMADA) Sunil Kansal; Chief Engineer, National Highway and PWD (B&R), AK Singla and Principal Scientist and head of Flexible Pavements Division, Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), Manoj Kumar Shukla. It was asked to suggest some remedial measures for the damaged road. In a report submitted by the committee in the last week of October, it suggested four remedial measures for a stretch from Airport Chowk to the Banur-Landran T-point and three measures were suggested for the stretch from North Country Mall to Airport Chowk. The recommendations were submitted by CRRI to GMADA.
Large-Scale Corruption Reckoned!
The Airport road which was built up around two and a half years ago at a cost of Rs. 169 crore started to wear out from some places within six months of its construction. It is believed that a large-scale corruption has taken place while the construction of this major project. A vigilance scrutiny is being processed in this regard!