Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda (right) felicitates the Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways at the inaugural session of the Indian Roads Congress in Panchkula on Saturday.
— Tribune photo by Malkiat Singh |
Panchkula, November 18
The Rs 270-crore Badarpur elevated highway project, aimed at ensuring smooth flow of traffic on the National Highway No 2, has been approved by the Union Government and the bidding process for the venture will be initiated soon. This was stated by Union Minister for Shipping and Road Transport and Highways T.R. Baalu here today.
Besides, the six-laning of the busy Chandigarh-Delhi highway was under the active consideration of the Central Government, Mr Baalu said while talking to reporters on the sidelines of the 67th session of the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) here.
He said the public-private participation appraisal committee of the Planning Commission had already cleared the Badarpur project and bids would be invited soon.
Earlier, during his presidential speech, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Haryana Chief Minister, urged the minister to expedite the project as it was of national importance.
On the Chandigarh-Delhi six-laning, Mr Baalu said it had been decided in principle to six-lane all highways in the country that carried over 20,000 four-wheelers every day.
The heavy vehicular traffic on the road, whose Ambala-Chandigarh stretch is being four-laned at present, automatically qualifies the Chandigarh-Ambala road for
the six-laning project.
Mr Hooda said a review meeting would be held by Mr T.R. Baalu on November 20 and on the following day, the minister would inaugurate two flyovers in the Gurgaon belt to ease traffic congestion.
Earlier, inaugurating the congress, Mr Baalu said although India had the world’s second largest road network of over 3.3 million km, the overall condition of these roads was not satisfactory. He, however, said the UPA government was committed to all-round development of the road network in the country in a phased manner so that fruits of development could reach to all sections of society.
He said the Committee on Infrastructure, headed by the Prime Minister, had already chalked out a development programme for the national highways for seven years, from 2005 to 2012, which envisaged an investment of around Rs 2.27 lakh crore. Creation of world-class infrastructure was one of the major objectives of the Central Government, he added.
The Minister of State for Shipping and Road Transport, Mr K.H. Muniyappa, said a massive programme of road upgrading and widening was already underway under different phases of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP).
In his address, Mr Hooda urged the Central Government to increase the budget allocation for the states for improvement, repair and maintenance of national highways and suggested the formation of a master plan for road assets management in the country.
With a view to ease traffic, there was also a need to strengthen other means of transport, including the railway. Only yesterday, the Haryana Government had signed an MoU for the extension of Delhi Metro to Gurgaon, Mr Hooda added.
While drawing attention of the Union Minister towards the need of huge funds for road infrastructure, Mr Hooda said according to estimates, the NHDP alone was likely to cost around Rs 2.2 lakh crore.
President of the IRC Tribhuwan Ram expressed serious concern over the number of accidents witnessed in the country.
