Page 8 - Construction Vision Sep-Oct 2017 issue

WIDENING AND UPGRADATION OF 14974 KM NORTHERN INDIAN HIGHWAYS

delayed due to problems in land Widening and Upgradation of 14974 km
acquisition, utility shifting, non- Northern Indian Highways. National Highways
availability of soil or aggregates, Authority of India (NHAI) has been entrusted
poor performance of contractors, with the development and maintenance of The
environment, forest or wildlife NH-334-B that starts from Bahalgarh in
clearance, ROB & RUB issue Haryana and connects Bagphat- Meerut in Uttar
with Railways, public agitation for Pradesh. Currently it is a two lane NH standard
additional facilities, road in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. This NH
arbitration/contractual disputes was handed over by the Uttar Pradesh state
with contractors etc. In this Govt in May, 2017. In the month of July 2017
regard, regular meetings are held the state government submitted the NOC for
with project developers, State declaration of this road as new NH.
Governments and contractors in
Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Bahalgarh-
headquarter as well as in Haryana/Uttar Pradesh border stretch has been
Widening and Upgradation of 14974 km Regional Office. To expedite completion of taken up by NHAI. DPR from the Haryana/Uttar
Northern Indian Highways. Work on 397 these projects various steps are also taken Pradesh border to Baghpat-Meerut stretch is in
National Highways projects amounting to INR which include streamlining of land acquisition & the initial stages of preparation of Inception
1,29,704 Crore and having length of 14974 km environment clearances, exit for equity Report by UP PWD. DPR for the Delhi-
are ongoing in Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, investors, premium re-schedulement, close Sharanpur stretch is also at initial stages of
Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, coordination with other Ministries, revamping of preparation of Inception Report by the UP
Chandigarh and Delhi, connecting districts and dispute resolution mechanism, frequent reviews PWD.
major cities. Some of these projects have got at various levels.

INDIAN RAILWAYS LAUNCHES FIRST SOLAR POWERED TRAIN

station in New Delh. The train will the next five years, half of which will be used to
be used on the 20km route power train stations and half to power trains.
between Safdarjung station and
The state-owned rail operator first began fitting
Farukh Nagar to the southwest.
panels to its coaches in 2015 but they were
The train has six trailer coaches, used to power lights and air-conditioning. Trials
with 16 Indian made solar panels of solar-driven trains began last year.
of 300 watt capacity fitted in each
So far the company has signed power
of them connected to a battery
purchase agreements for about 250MW of
than can power the train for 72
solar for electrified rails, mainly from utility-
hours . The solar panels will power
scale farms such as the 50MW Rewa Ultra
all the electrical appliances inside.
Mega Solar in Madhya Pradesh.
The energy generated through the
Ravinder Gupta, the chief executive of Indian
panel will be stored in batteries
Railways Organisation for Alternative Fuel, said
Indian Railways aiming to materialize its and can be used during night as
that the plans would save Indian Railways
ambitious plan of harnessing solar energy to well.
about $110m a year when they were fully
run environment friendly train launched the About 50 such coaches are to be brought into
implemented.
1600 HHP solar DEMU (Diesel Electric Multiple service in the next few days. Initially they will
Unit) train on Friday from Safdarjung railway be used on commuter routes but later they will Annually, the Railways are hoping to reduce
station. It is a great step towards a clean and be used for long-distance services as well. 239 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions by
green future and will have a positive financial saving approximately 90,800 liters of diesel per
Indian Railways plans to install 1GW of solar
impact too. The train will be stationed at rake.
and 130MW of wind generating capacity over
platform number 1 of Safdarjung Railway
6 CONSTRUCTION VISION SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER