National highways(NH) is presented as panacea for all the commuting troubles. The vast stretches of the concrete roads usually figured boastfully in political speeches, but issues like road safety and problems of the cities, towns and villages that have been bifurcated by the NHs have remained overlooked. Most often, these problems led to the stalling of the projects midway. Even in cases where they have been completed, the government pays the price of not bothering to consult with various stakeholders with faulty designs and planning.
In Punjab, to cite an example, the longest and most crucial of these projects is the six-laning of Panipat-Jalandhar national highway, once better known as Grand Trunk Road or Sher Shah Suri Marg. What was NH 1 is now part of NH 44. Work started over a decade ago and, according to Infrastructure Projects in India, it should have been completed on November 1, 2011. There were inordinate delays in the project and, as it is drawing near completion, the flaws in its execution are becoming more noticeable. Meanwhile, its cost has also escalated considerably.
Source: Times Of India
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