GURGAON: Haryana has approved a Rs 9,700-crore road infrastructure package that includes bypasses around five cities and a policy for developing ring roads and national highways outside cities and towns with populations above one lakh.The projects are aimed at diverting through traffic from urban areas and easing congestion on national highways passing through or near built-up areas.Chief minister Nayab Singh Saini approved the projects at a meeting to finalise the financial model for the state’s contribution to road projects being taken up under the master plan for decongesting urban stretches of national highways.The approved projects include the Hisar, Kurukshetra-Ladwa, Narnaul, Jind and Sohna-Palwal bypasses.The nearly 11-km Narnaul city bypass will connect to NH-148B. At Jind, an outer ring road and a four-lane bypass on NH-352 have been approved. The Palwal-Sohna bypass from NH-919 will be redesigned and upgraded to a four-lane road over about 24 km.The Hisar bypass will connect the Hisar-Rajgarh road (NH-52) with the Hisar-Delhi and Hisar-Kaithal roads. The DPR for the Kurukshetra-Ladwa bypass has been prepared, with work expected to begin soon.The state government will also formulate a policy for developing outer ring roads and national highways in line with the Centre’s policy framework. A three-member committee comprising officials from the finance, public works and urban local bodies departments has been formed to work out Haryana’s share of the cost under the Centre-state funding arrangement.The state also plans greenfield connectivity linking the DND-Faridabad-Ballabhgarh-KMP corridor and Delhi-Mumbai Expressway with Jewar International Airport.The land share for the Karnal ring road has been deposited, while construction of the ring road connecting Ambala City and Ambala Cantonment is underway.The meeting also cleared a railway underbridge on Civil Station Road in Sirsa on the Rewari-Bathinda railway line and several link-road works in Mahendragarh and adjoining areas.
