As part of efforts to boost the road infrastructure for faster connectivity, the Centre is planning to start work on 10 world-class express highways, which will not only reduce travel time but also propel the country’s economic growth.
“We will soon build ten express highways on the pattern of the Mumbai-Pune Express Highway. These include Nagpur-Mumbai, Bangalore-Chennai, Baroda-Mumbai, Katra-Amritsar and Ludhiana-Delhi,” the Road Transport and Highways Minister, Mr. Nitin Gadkari has told PTI Economic Service.
He said work on these projects will start soon and, once completed, they will not only reduce travel time between major cities but would also contribute significantly towards the economic growth. “All these express highways are going to be world class matching the quality and specifications in advanced nations and, once completed, would result in huge savings in fuel cost.”
Mr. Gadkari has to his credit building the Mumbai-Pune Express Highway during his stint as the State PWD Minister, besides being known as the ‘flyover man from Maharashtra’ for constructing a network of flyovers in the State.
He said most of the proposed 10 projects, including the Rs. 6,000-crore 260-km Bengaluru-Chennai expressway, will be concrete cement highways. The Nagpur-Mumbai express highway, connecting the two major cities – Nagpur and Aurangabad – in Maharashtra with capital city Mumbai, will also save significant time.
The Ludhiana-Delhi expressway is proposed on new alignment linking the national Capital with Ludhiana, which would also have a separate node to connect Chandigarh and the same is likely to reduce the distance between Delhi and Ludhiana by 50 km.
Mr. Gadkari further said his Ministry is committed to contributing at least two per cent to the GDP, besides aiming at reducing accidents by more than 50 per cent in the next two years. About three lakh persons are crippled annually in five lakh road accidents, while another 1.5 lakh lose their lives.
The Centre is committed to provide jobs to at least 50 lakh people in highways and shipping sectors where it plans to undertake massive projects worth Rs. 6 lakh crores.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that road infrastructure is key to the development of a nation.
An express highway is a controlled-access highway, mostly 6-lane or above, where entrance and exit is controlled by the use of slip roads (ramps) that are incorporated into the design of the highway.
The Indian road network of 33 lakh km is the second largest in the world and consists of 92,851 km of National Highways, which constitutes only 1.7 per cent of the road network but carry about 40 per cent of the total road traffic. Besides express highways, the Government is focusing on constructing tunnels in areas like Jammu & Kashmir. It plans to soon start work on the Rs. 10,000-crore Zojila pass tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir to provide all-weather connectivity to people in the Leh-Ladakh region.
The Minister observed: “We are committed to all-round development of Jammu & Kashmir. We will begin work soon on the Rs. 10,000-crore Zojila pass tunnel which would be even bigger than the 9 km-long Chenani-Nashri tunnel in the State, which is India’s longest road tunnel at present.”
The Zojila pass is situated at an altitude of 11,578-ft on the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh National Highway which remains closed during the winter (December to April) due to heavy snowfall and avalanches cutting the Leh-Ladakh region from Kashmir.
The Government will provide all-weather connectivity to different parts of the State. The people in Ladakh have to face severe hardships and the region is cut off during the winters.
Talking after the final blast ceremony to connect Chenani and Nashri of South-East Asia’s longest (9 km) road tunnel, which is part of the Rs. 12,000-crore Jammu to Srinagar project, he said the Zojila pass, after construction, will become the longest road tunnel in South-East Asia. Only a single bid has been received so far for the important project which has been sent to a high-level committee for a decision whether to call for more bids. “Once a decision is taken on the bidder, we are committed to start work on the project.”
The Rs. 3,720-crore Chenani-Nashri road tunnel project, which is part of the Rs. 12,000-crore Jammu to Srinagar highway project, will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister in May next year.
He said: “We are hopeful that the project is completed before schedule in March next year. On completion of the entire project, the distance between Jammu and Kashmir regions will be reduced by about 90 km.”
Not only projects worth Rs. 25,000 crores will be done in the State by the end of the year but also work is in progress on projects worth Rs. 10,000 crores.
“The Narendra Modi Government is committed to doing more work in 5 years in the State to bolster its economic growth than what was done in last 50 years. We will do projects worth Rs. 25,000 crores this year,” Mr. Gadkari said at the final blast ceremony of the Chenani-Nashri tunnel project.
The existing highway stretch between Chenani and Nashri encounters heavy snowfall during winters, leading to closing of the highway for weeks altogether.
Terming the tunnel work as a historic milestone, Mr. Gadkari said it will contribute significantly to the programme and the idea of ‘Make in India’ and ‘Made in India’.
– PTI Economic Service