Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources Nitin Gadkari will lay the foundation stone for various road projects worth over ₹6,000 crore, during his stay in the city from July 11 to 13.
The projects include capacity augmentation of about 13.47 km of the existing four-lane NH-16 stretch from Icchapuram to Narasannapet at a cost of ₹439 crore, six-laning of NH-16 from Narasannapet to Ranasthalam, covering about 54.2 km at a cost of ₹1,350 crore, and six-laning of the existing four-lane NH-16 from Ranasthalam to Anandapuram, covering a distance of about 47 km at a cost of ₹1,187.10 crore. All the three projects are being taken up under the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP) Phase-V programme, said senior BJP Leader K. Haribabu, at a press meet here on Tuesday.
Other projects
The other projects for which the foundation stone will be laid by Mr. Gadkari include, six-laning of Anandapuram to Pendurthi covering a distance of 50.78 km at a cost of ₹2,013 crore and four-lane connectivity from NH-16 to Visakhapatnam Port under the port connectivity initiative of Bharatmala Pariyojana, covering a distance of ₹12.70 km at a cost of ₹549 crore.
Mr. Haribabu also informed the media that Mr. Gadkari will also lay the foundation stone for the grade separator from NH-7 to VPT by bypassing the convent junction in the city. The length of this separator will be around 0.85 km and it will cost around ₹40 crore.
During his three-day visit, the Union Minister will dedicate the four-lane road that connects Visakhapatnam Port to NH-16. The road covering a distance of 4.15 km was built at a cost of ₹79 crore.
According to Mr. Haribabu, the Central government has invested about ₹1 lakh crore on different road connectivity projects in the State in the last four years.
Airport time slots
Speaking about the reduced time slots in the airport, Mr. Haribabu said that he has spoken to the Flag Officer Commanding in Chief of Eastern Naval Command Karambir Singh and he has responded positively. “INS Dega is a military airport and we also need to look and give priority to military requirements. Despite that Vice-Adimiral Karambir Singh has agreed to look into it positively,” he said.
I have requested the ENC chief to defer the dedicated military flying slots at Visakhapatnam International Airport, proposed to be implemented from November 1, to April 1, 2019, he said.