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Nitin Gadkari says he once razed his father-in-law's home without telling wife
Nitin Gadkari also reviewed the status of the ongoing work of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and said that the project would be completed by March 2023 with a majority of the work having already been allotted to contractors.
Nitin Gadkari, Union minister of road transport and highways, said on Thursday that he once ordered the demolition of his father-in-law's home without telling his wife. Gadkari shared the incident in a humorous light while speaking at an event in Haryana, where he also reviewed the progress of the new Delhi-Mumbai expressway.
“I was newly married,” Gadkari said, cracking up about the incident. “My father-in-law's house was in the middle of the road. Without telling my wife, I had ordered the demolition of my father-in-law's house.” The minister added that officials informed him that he, too, has a house there and that it needed to be razed for constructing the road.
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Gurugram Lok Sabha member Rao Inderjit Singh and senior officials of the state government, district administration, and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) were also present at the event.
The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, being built at the cost of around ₹95,000 crore, would be completed by March 2023 with a majority of the work having already been allotted to contractors, Gadkari said after reviewing the status of the ongoing project work at Lohtaki village in Gurugram. The union minister said that work on around 160 kilometres of the highway that falls in Haryana is expected to be completed by March 2022. A part of the road from Delhi to Dausa in Rajasthan and from Vadodara to Ankleshwar will be built by March 2022.
The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will be the longest such highway in the country, cutting across 1,380km, according to the central government. It will also be the first such structure to have underpasses for animals, at wildlife sanctuaries along the route, with five structures planned to ensure their safe passage.
Besides the expressway, Gadkari said that 14 road projects are underway in Delhi-NCR, at ₹53,000 crore, which will significantly reduce noise and air pollution, due to a reduction in traffic issues.
