If you are traveling in Punjab, brace yourself for a groundbreaking transformation. The mighty Bharatmala Pariyojna (BMP) is paving the way to shrink the state and revolutionise travel. With over 1600 km of expressways snaking through its vibrant cities, Punjab is gearing up to bid farewell to traffic congestion and welcome shorter travel times like never before.
These expressways, boasting four to six lanes, are poised to rewrite the travel narrative in Punjab. The journey from Delhi to Amritsar, currently a grueling 8-hour marathon, is set to be slashed to a doable 4 hours while a Delhi to Katra adventure will now be completed in just about 7 hours, a reduction of 5 hours from your travel time.
The road to convenience doesn’t end there. With the stroke of the BMP, the travel time from Mohali to Barnala will get condensed from 2.5 hours to a mere 1.5 hours. If the highway engineers are to be believed, you could also say goodbye to the frustrating traffic snarls that have plagued Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Malaut, Mandi Dabwali, and Phagwara, as these expressways, accompanied by seven bypasses, will liberate these cities from the shackles of congestion.
The ongoing land acquisition processes in several districts, coupled with active construction in various sections, are propelling this massive infrastructure project forward.
Around 1100 km of these projects are greenfield initiatives, while over 500 km are brownfield projects, involving extensions of existing highways.
As part of the development plan, logistics parks will be established at strategic locations.
Bathinda, situated on the Amritsar-Bathinda-Jamnagar expressway, will host one such park, while Ludhiana, Sangrur, Patiala in Malwa, and Jalandhar, Amritsar, and Gurdaspur in North Punjab will have logistics parks along the Delhi Amritsar-Katra express highway. The overall responsibility for the Bharatmala projects lies with the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
With a total of over 25 greenfield and brownfield projects currently underway in Punjab, three stand out as particularly prestigious. These are the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra (DAK) expressway, the Amritsar-Bathinda-Jamnagar expressway, and the Mohali-Sirhind-Khanna bypass-Malerkotla-Barnala expressway. NHAI surveys indicate that land acquisition for these projects encompasses approximately 22,000 acres, with significant progress already
made in several cases.
The Delhi-Amritsar-Katra (DAK) expressway, spanning 669 km in length, requires 397 km of construction in Punjab. The estimated cost for this project is 37,524 crores, and it promises to reduce travel time from Delhi to Amritsar from 8 hours to just 4 hours. Similarly, the journey from Delhi to Katra will be reduced to approximately 7 hours, down from the current 12 hours. The expressway enters Punjab through the village of Ghagga in Patiala district before swiftly heading towards Sangrur.
Jitendra Jorwal, Deputy Commissioner of Sangrur, shared insights with The Indian Express, stating, “Within Sangrur, the DAK expressway spans 47.4 km, of which 40.59 km has already been acquired. Compensation amounting to 791.16 crores has been disbursed to affected individuals. The land acquired mostly comprised agricultural land, and construction work is progressing smoothly in the areas where land has been acquired.” Jorwal added that apart from a pending case regarding the awarded compensation in Santokhpura village, no objections have been raised by farmers.
It is worth mentioning that in August of the previous year, Sukhwinder Singh from Roshanwala village in Sangrur gained attention when he decided to relocate his entire two-story house to accommodate the DAK expressway.
Singh ingeniously used the compensation amount received instead of demolishing his house and constructing a new one. His 2.5-acre land fell within the project’s scope.
Amandeep Singh Bains, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Khanna, overseeing NHAI projects in Ludhiana, revealed, “A total of 38.22 km of the DAK expressway passes through Ludhiana, covering an area of 429.17 hectares.
Currently, 22.70 km of this stretch has been physically possessed. Compensation worth 849.62 crores has been awarded, with 636.10 crores already disbursed.
