Highway project | Contractors suspend work in Banihal-Ramban sector

The work on 4-lane highway project in Banihal-Ramban sector has came to a halt after the contractors decided to suspend it till their pending payments are cleared.

As per the aggrieved contractors, the Hindustan Construction Company has failed to clear their payments worth crores of rupees on account of work executed by them on the project.

   

A sub-contractor company appointed by the HCC in Ramban-Banihal sector namely the Chaudhry Power Projects Private Limited (CPPPL) has also decided to stop the construction work till payment is made to the aggrieved contractors.

“Given the failure of the HCC to clear the outstanding amount, the construction work in Ramban-Banihal sector of the highway has come to halt from Wednesday,” sources said.

Meanwhile, a contractor coordination committee was constituted in Banihal on Wednesday with Sarpanch Ilyas Banihali appointed as its head. The committee held a meeting over the non-payment of dues to the contractors.

Demanding the release of payments, the contractors at the meeting said that they had undertaken the construction work after raising bank loans. “The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) have been reluctant to make payments despite their assurances,” the contractors said.

The committee decided to suspend the work in Ramban-Banihal sector till the payment is made by the HCC.

Earlier, in the first week of June, a meeting of the contractors and the HCC officials was held at Banihal in which the HCC head for 4-lane project Banihal, Joseph was also present, sources said.

The contractors in that meeting, sources said, had been assured that payments would be disbursed in a phased manner within 15 days. “However, despite the passing of around one month, the contractors have not been paid any amount so far,” they said.

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