E-Paper
Centre to roll out major road projects in Uttar Pradesh ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls
Uttar Pradesh government to give land free of cost; Nitin Gadkari sanctions several road, RoB projects for state, asks for proposal for 25 bus stations to be developed with NHAI help
Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Centre would roll out big road projects in Uttar Pradesh.
In order to aid the effort, the Yogi Adityanath government has decided to provide land free of cost for new highway and green-field expressway projects of the Centre. A decision in this regard was reached in a meeting among chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari and the Union minister of state General (retd) VK Singh, on the sidelines of the Indian Road Congress meet. It was decided at the meeting that the Union road transport ministry, National Highway Authority of India as well as the state government would hold monthly review of the central projects that are either underway or are to be sanctioned.
The chief minister also sought Gadkari’s assistance in ensuring ring road and bypass for all divisional headquarters.
At IRC, Gadkari had announced road projects worth ₹8000 crore on Saturday. This includes funds for Shahabad-Hardoi bypass ( ₹1212 crore), Shahjahanpur-Shahabad bypass ( ₹950 crore), Moradabad-Kashipur NH ( ₹2007 crore) and Ghazipur-Ballia section ( ₹1708 crore). Besides, Gadkari announced 13 ROBs worth ₹1000 crore for the state on the occasion. Gadkari also cleared a proposal for the widening of the Pratapgarh-Sultanpur-Ayodhya state highway into a four-lane one. About heavy traffic congestion on Rae Bareli-Prayagraj section and the need for widening of this section ahead of Kumbh 2025, Gadkari ordered officials to carry out the necessary inspection.
The state government also pitched for strengthening the Gosainganj-Bani-Mohan route, besides the Sitapur-Lakhimpur-Gauriphanta, Tundla-Etah-Kasganj, Chandausi-Moradabad-Farrukhabad, Naimisharanya-Gola Gokarnnath-Purnagiri-Shahjahanpur route.
Seeking inclusion of maximum highway projects in U.P, the chief minister also said the decision to include Gorakhpur-Siliguri, Varanasi-Kolkata and Gorakhpur-Bareilly corridor in phase 2 of the Bharatmala scheme would give wings to Uttar Pradesh’s growth. The Bharatmala Pariyojana (scheme) is a centrally sponsored and funded road and highways project.
ROPEWAY PROJECTS
In his meeting with Gadkari, the chief minister also made a pitch for ropeway projects in Ghaziabad, Mathura-Vrindavan, Bundelkhand and Sonbhadra. U.P. government officials said Gadkari promised all help.
NHAI HELP
Gadkari also listened to a U.P. proposal, seeking NHAI help in renovation of bus stations across all 75 districts. “The Union minister was urged to consider a proposal about NHAI developing these bus stations on PPP mode,” the officials said. “He welcomed the proposal and urged the state government to send a proposal for 25 bus stations in the first phase,” officials said.
The CM also told the Union minister how the state had moved forward from one expressway in 2017 with six expressways at present, nearly doubled the number of National Highways that existed prior to 2017 .
