The 137-km Bharatmala road link between Jaisalmer and Sundra has faced yet another setback, with construction paused pending the Desert National Park’s (DNP) final approval, Times of India reported.

Initial work on the highway had only just commenced when Desert National Park’s district forest officer, Brijmohan Gupta, sought the final No Objection Certificate (NOC) from NHAI, stalling further progress.

The Sundra-bound project, meant to strengthen connectivity near the border, has been caught in regulatory and environmental clearances for years.

Clearance for utilising 166.43 hectares inside the DNP remains pending, and officials say work cannot resume until this essential approval is issued.

The road’s initial sanctioned cost stood at Rs 390 crore. Following objections raised by DNP, NHAI ordered a Wildlife Institute of India survey costing Rs 50 lakh.

The institute’s findings called for additional mitigation infrastructure, pushing the project’s overall cost up to Rs 872 crore.

For the past five years, the proposal has moved repeatedly between state and central government departments.

The National Wildlife Board’s standing committee recently granted its approval, clearing a major procedural hurdle.

Yet progress has stalled again, this time because the final NOC formalities are still incomplete.

DFO Gupta said he has sought the necessary documents from NHAI, noting, “Until the final NOC is received, construction work cannot continue.”

He added that once the required papers arrive, construction activity is expected to resume.

Local groups have repeatedly urged completion of the stretch, stressing its role in improving connectivity and supporting development.

The DFO maintains that no work will proceed until all approvals are issued, given that a major portion of the alignment passes through protected park territory.

NHAI first filed its online proposal in April 2018, but the clearance process since then has been slow and complex.

The proposal later moved to Delhi after a recommendation from Rajasthan’s chief forest conservator, eventually receiving approval from the National Wildlife Board.

Despite these developments, the road remains on hold because the final NOC is still awaited, leaving the project’s timeline unclear.

The project is part of the the Bharatmala Pariyojana, India's biggest highway push with 34,800 km of projects sanctioned under the Phase I of the mega project.