Indore: Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday announced that Indore will soon be connected by road and rail links with southern, eastern and western parts of the country. Elaborating further, he said that while bhoomi-pujan of new Indore-Manmad rail line project will be held in four months, construction of Indore-Ichhapur and Indore-Betul national highway too would begin in near future. He said that detailed project report (DPR) is ready and added that the two highways would connect the city with three different corners of the country. He also okayed construction of 4km long elevated corridor, worth Rs 400 crore to end traffic bottleneck in BRTS.
Gadkari was in the city on a day-long visit. A major function was organised at Labh Mandapan to lay foundation stone for construction of a bypass at cost of Rs 90 crore. Addressing the function, Gadkari announced a few projects, gave assurance on others and suggested multiple infrastructure development projects for the city. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, state’s PWD minister Rampal, Mayor Malini Gaud, IDA chairman Shankar Lalwani and city MLAs were also present.
Elevated corridor at BRTS
Discussing proposal for construction of elevated corridor at BRTS, Gadkari asked IDA officer to bring down the cost of corridor by using special technology. The officials had pegged the cost of project at Rs 700 crore. Asking them to send a new proposal with revised cost he said that his ministry would approve Rs 400 crore for the construction of elevated corridor between LIG square and Navlakha Square.
Bypass development work
NHAI minister said that one underpass, 14 medium bridges will be constructed on 32-km stretch of bypass between Manglia and Rau. The entire project would cost Rs 90 crore. He said that the drains too would be covered. A flyover would come up at MR-10 junction. Streetlights would be put up on the stretch. It will entail expenditure of Rs 23 crore. Besides, roads worth Rs 55 crore would be laid in Kalod Kartal area.
Prepare proposal for Kahn river
Gadkari, who also holds charge of Ganga River Basin Development Ministry, refused to provide fund for Kahn river cleaning project from Ganga Cleaning Mission. He invited mayor Malini Gaud to New Delhi with a new proposal for Kahn river development and c leaning. He stressed on cleaning and beautification of river fronts to enable boating.
Indore-Manmad Rail Line
Bhoomi pujan of Indore-Manmad new rail line project would be carried out by Gadkari and chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in the presence of Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. The venue of the event is yet to be finalized. Newly-created Rail-Port connectivity Corporation would bear 50% of total cost of Rs 8,857 crore. Highlighting project’s importance, he said that it would help dispatch containers from Pithampur and Dewas directly to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) Mumbai. It would save time and money both of exporters, industry and agriculture sector of the region. Besides, Manmad will be city’s gateway to western and southern parts of the country. This would also create a North-South Railway Corridor that would reduce distance between New Delhi and Chennai by 325 km. The trains would run via Itarsi, he added.
Indore-Ahmedabad NH
Overcoming financial hurdles, contractor is expected to complete Indore-Ahmedabad National Highway by December.
Dewas-Shivpuri NH to ready in a year
Construction of Dewas-Shivpuri national highway is in full swing and will be ready in a year.
4-lane roads to connect city with Delhi, Kolkata and S India
Minister Gadkari informed that the project report of SH 27 Ichhapur-Indore-Ujjain-Jhalawar (Rajasthan) and Indore-Betul National Highway is ready and the construction work is likely to be started in six months. Rajesh Agrawal, representative of Sumitra Mahajan and experts of highways construction affairs, informed that Indore-Ahmadabad Indore-Betul and Ichhapur–Indore-Ujjain-Jhalawar are very significant projects for the city. Indore-Ichhapur road is an extension of Ahmadabad-Indore NH, which will open roads for Southern India. Similarly, Indore-Betul NH would link with Betul-Kolkata NH. Indore-Ujjain-Jhalawar to link with Jhalawar-Kota, which is further linked with Kota-Jaipur highway, which will ultimately connect to Jaipur-New Delhi National Highway. With the construction of these highways, city will be connected to Kolkata, Southern India and New Delhi via four-lane roads.
My 25 years struggle gets success: Mahajan
Addressing the function Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said that her 25 years of struggle for the development of bypass achieved success with Monday’s function. “When I was elected first time to Lok Sabha, I got the bypass project sanctioned and today with hands of Gadkariji, it is completed,” she said.
