Taking serious note of slow work in the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Express highway (KMP) project and missing out the proposed deadline, the High Powered Committee (express highways) has recommended invoking penal action against the concessionaire for delaying the ambitious project of the state.
The 136-km long expressway, earlier planned to be operational by 2009, is being developed by KMP Expressway Limited — a consortium of DSC Ltd and Apollo enterprises
The High Powered Committee meeting (express highways) held here on Wednesday under the chairpersonship of Urvashi Gulati, chief secretary, Haryana, decided a penal action would be initiated against the concessionaire in accordance with the provisions stipulated under clause 15.4 of the Concession Agreement for which a detailed show cause notice would be issued to him.
The concessionaire earlier in a review meeting by the chief minister on May 19 had assured to complete the work on the priority stretch of Manesar-Palwal section of the expressway by August 20. They also assured to complete the entire stretch by November 1 this year.
However, the concessionaire had not only failed to complete the target again but the progress of the work at the site was also going on at a snail’s pace.
The state government had been continuously raising concern for the slow progress of work. It was revealed that the concessionaire had been shifting completion targets time and again despite the fact that the said targets in the earlier various review meetings were proposed by the concessionaire himself.
The concessionaire had achieved physical progress of 63.90 per cent till October 2011 at a cost of over Rs 946 crore with monthly physical progress of about 0.16 per cent at a cost of Rs 2.36 crore only against the original and revised targets of 100 per cent. The concessionaire had not been able to achieve his proposed re-revised targets for the last two years and there had been lag of about 36 per cent in the physical progress up to October from the proposed target in the latest proposed work completion schedule.