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Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said the four-lane wide section from Phagwara to Rupnagar on NH-344A is being executed in hybrid annuity mode at a cost of Rs 1,367 crore. Under the hybrid annuity model, the government provides 40 per cent of the project cost to the developer to begin work and the remaining investment is made by the developer. The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways in a statement said the 4-Lane wide section from Phagwara to Rupnagar on NH-344A developed by NHAI would give a major boost to the road infra in Punjab. The section connects major cities Amritsar - Jalandhar - Chandigarh and extends mobility to Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Ropar, and Mohali. The alignment will reduce the travel time between Jalandhar and Chandigarh to almost half and provide direct access to Khatkarkalan, which is the ancestral home of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, the minister said.
Amid incessant rains, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi resumed his Bharat Jodo Yatra from Ramban Wednesday and is heading for the highway town of Banihal. The journey from Ramban to Banihal along the 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway - the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with rest of the country -- is the most challenging due to several problematic stretches, including Panthiyal, Mehar and Magerkote which are prone to shooting of stones from the hillocks overlooking the arterial road. Traffic on the highway was suspended Wednesday morning after heavy rains triggered shooting of stones at a few places in Ramban district that left a truck driver dead and two others injured. J-K Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Jahanzaib Sirwal said the yatra resumed around 9 am from Bathi after an hour-long delay due to heavy rains and was progressing smoothly on day 131, covering the old alignment road via Maitra in Ramban town. Gandhi, who started the yatra wearing his trademar
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has set a target of constructing 12,200 kilometres of national highways during 2022-23, against which 4,766 kilometres have been constructed till November, 2022, Parliament was informed on Thursday. The road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari in a written reply to the Lok Sabha said under Bharatmala Pariyojana, apart from development of highways/ expressways in the country, which facilitate logistic efficiency to India economy, 35 Multi Modal Logistics Parks (MMLPs) are to be developed. These MMLPs would act as major cargo consolidation and distribution hubs, Gadkari added. According to him, under Bharatmala Pariyojana 191 points of congestion were identified on the entire network. Gadkari said of the 191 choke points, de-congestion projects have already been completed in 56 congestion points and de-congestion projects are under implementation in 83 congestion points. The work on remaining 52 congestions points will be
The Centre has asked states to remove encroachments from national highways as it is a matter of grave concern for traffic management and operations and future upgradation projects. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) in a letter to states said the Control of National Highways (Land & Traffic) Act, 2002 has empowered the National Highway (NH) officers to take action against encroachments, but still there are a lot of encroachments on NH land. "It has been brought to the notice of the ministry that national highways are being encroached upon by dhabas, vegetable sellers, etc. "...field units may be adequately sensitised to prevent encroachments on national highways and launch periodical drives to remove all sorts of encroachments from NH land," it said. "The ministry noted that encroachment of NH land whether of permanent nature or of a temporary nature is a matter of grave concern for traffic management and operations and future upgradation projects," it said.
The Centre is mulling a scheme under which it will take over state highways having high-traffic density for expansion, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Saturday. Gadkari, who handles the road transport and highways portfolio, said a state highway will be expanded into a four or six lane road by the Centre and toll will be collected for 25 years before handing the asset back to the state. "we will take that highway from the state government (and) will collect the toll," Gadkari said, speaking at a convention organised by the Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI) here. The minister, who has built a reputation for constructing mega road projects across the country, exuded confidence that the money invested for a particular highway's expansion into a 4-6 lane carriageway can be recovered in 12-13 years itself. He, however, did not offer any elaboration on the evinced plan like if the Centre is in talks with any states or the overall outlay under this or if such
The Kerala High Court has strongly criticised the Congress-led Bharat Jodo Yatra for the flex boards and banners erected along the side of the roads and said the government departments, including police, have chosen to turn a blind eye towards it. Justice Devan Ramachandran, in an order issued on Thursday evening, said it was a tragedy that the orders of the court and the competent authorities are "given absolutely no respect" by persons and entities "who are in charge of the future of this nation". The court made the observations during an urgent hearing requested by amicus curiae Harish Vasudevan, who filed a report along with photographs, to show that a particular political party, while conducting procession across Kerala, has erected a large number of boards, banners, flags and other such material illegally. "Illegal installations have been made by a particular political party on every side of National Highway from Trivandrum to Thrissur and even beyond; and that even though the
The government is working on developing electric highways powered by solar energy, that will facilitate the charging of heavy duty trucks and buses, Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said on Monday. Addressing an event organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC), Gadkari reiterated that the government wants to develop India's public transport system on electricity. "The government is strongly encouraging solar and wind energy-based charging mechanisms for electric mobility. "We are also working on developing electric highways, which will be powered by solar energy and this will facilitate charging of heavy duty trucks and buses while running," he said. An electric highway generally refers to a road which supplies power to vehicles travelling on it, including through overhead power lines. Gadkari said that the government is also encouraging toll plazas to be powered by solar energy. The minister said the road ministry has conducted route ...