The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) risks losing $300 million of the $620 million World Bank loan for the $933 million Lucknow-Muzaffarpur National Highway Project (LMNHP), if work on the project is not expedited and safety concerns not addressed within a short period of time. World Bank acting country director, Rachid Benmessaoud told TOI, "The Bank has a right to use legal remedies available to it, including suspension of the disbursement of funds, if adequate progress is not made in addressing these issues within a short time." He said, "World Bank concern centres around the poor implementation of five road packages under the Lucknow-Muzaffarpur National Highway Project (LMNHP) which should have been open this month. But at the current rate of progress itwill not be ready in 10 years." He added, "Four of these road stretches are in Bihar and one in Uttar Pradesh. The progress of these five packages 5, 9, 10, 11 and 12 has been particularly slow due to poor implementation by the contractors and the consultants supervising the contractors, as well as inadequate contract management on the part of NHAI." These road stretches comprise almost 40% (in value) of the LMNHP that seeks to transform the 513 km national highway between Lucknow and Muzaffarpur (in Bihar) into a modern, four-lane road and to cut travel time on this important connector by 40%. "The Bank is also concerned about the inadequate attention being paid to construction safety issues on work sites of the Lucknow-Muzaffarpur National Highway Project (LMNHP). This is putting at risk the lives, health and well-being of road users, construction workers and roadside residents," said the country director. There are also apprehensions about the large number of variations on work contracts.