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Speed up four-laning of Himachal highways, Sukhu urges Gadkari
Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday urged Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari to speed up the expansion of national highways in the state, especially on Kiratpur-Manali, Parwanoo-Shimla, Chakki-Mataur-Shimla and Nalagarh-Swarghat stretches
Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday urged Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari to speed up the expansion of national highways in the state.
Sukhu met Gadkari in New Delhi and requested to expedite work, especially on Kiratpur-Manali, Parwanoo-Shimla, Chakki-Mataur-Shimla and Nalagarh-Swarghat stretches.
He said the work on national highways should be completed in a time-bound manner.
The chief minister also emphasised on the construction of flyovers to ease traffic congestion and reduce distance and commuting time. He demanded from the central government release of funds for repair work of national highways keeping in view the upcoming tourism season.
“Tourists visiting Himachal are fond of driving, which is why the condition of roads needs to be improved,” he said, while discussing in length various issues pertaining to other centrally funded schemes being executed in Himachal.
Sukhu said that the Union minister assured him of all possible assistance and co-operation on the issues raised.
Earlier in the day, he also laid the foundation stone of ‘Himachal Niketan’ being built at a cost of ₹57.7 crore in capital’s Dwarka area to provide accommodation facilities to students and visitors from the state.
Besides two VIP rooms, there will be 36 general rooms exclusively for the students with all facilities besides 40 other general suites.
In addition to this, there will be three dormitories for the staff. It will also have a facility to park around 53 vehicles and 87 two-wheelers in the basement. There will be 81 rooms in total.
Addressing the people, the chief minister said this would be an additional facility apart from the existing Himachal Bhawan and Himachal Sadan, offering accommodation facility to the Himachalis, especially students coming for various competitive examinations held in New Delhi.
The PWD has been directed to ensure every quality aspect in the construction work and complete it by 2025, as per the deadline, Sukhu said.
Separately, state’s deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri flagged off a new bus service from Pandoga in the Haroli of Una district to Chandigarh.He said it was a long-standing demand from residents of Pandoga (border village of Hoshiarpur district in Punjab) and other adjoining villages of Himachal to start a bus service to Chandigarh.
