Indian road congress: Road infra in Uttar Pradesh will be on a par with US by 2024-end: Gadkari

Addressing the inaugural session of the 81st Annual Session of the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) in Lucknow on Saturday as chief guest, Gadkari said he has made a promise to develop roads in UP at an expenditure of around Rs 5 lakh crore before the end of 2024.

Gadkari announced that projects of Rs 8,000 crore for development of roads  have been sanctioned. These projects are for connecting Moradabad to Kashipur, Shahabad-Hardoi bypass, Shajahanpur-Shahabad by-pass, Ghazipur-Ballia bypass, etc and 13 ROBs at around Rs 1,000 crore.

Gadkari said, “We need to have more cooperation, coordination and communication between the stakeholders. We need a transparent and corruption-free system and 101 per cent commitment along with quality,” Gadkari said.

Addressing engineers and experts in road construction, the Union Minister appealed to them to try and reduce the cost of construction and improve quality.

Gadkari said diesel-fueled buses being run in Uttar Pradesh costs more than the electric buses. Drawing attention of CM Adityanath, Gadkari said, “If you run electric buses and provide AC-bus services to the entire UP public at 25 per cent reduced fare, that will reduce the pollution in UP and ensure more comfort to the public,” Gadkari said.

Gadkari said that his dream was to make e-highways and his ministry was trying to make an e-highway from Delhi to Jaipur. Gadkari added that electric truck would be launched next month.

Gadkari stressed upon the protection of ecology and environment and added that the road sector contributes 40 per cent of the air-pollution.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mission to make India a $5-trillion economy, Gadkari said the country should have good infrastructure such as water, power, transport and communication at any cost.

“Without infrastructure, we don’t have industry. Without industry, we don’t have capital investment and without capital investment, we cannot create employment potential. And, without employment potential, we cannot eradicate poverty,” Gadkari said.

CM Adityanath who presided over the inaugural session, said the “double engine” government has developed so much good road infrastructure for inter-state connectivity that four-lane connectivity is available in the state from all the entry points. Adityanath said that in first five years of his government, economically backward eastern UP and Bundelkhand regions were connected with world-class expressways.

Citing data that more than 20,000 deaths occur in road accidents in the state every year, Adityanath expressed concern about road safety. “There is a challenge somewhere in that concern,” the CM said and expressed hope that the IRC would brainstorm on that perspective. The CM said several lives were lost because of “wrong engineering.”

More than 2,500 delegates from Indian as well as international companies associated with road construction will participate in the ongoing edition of the IRC.

Later in the day, Gadkari with Adityanath reviewed the progress of national highway projects that are under construction and proposed in the state. They also discussed the preparations regarding the 2025 Kumbh Mela. Gadkari also gave approval to four-laning of Pratapgarh-Sultanpur-Ayodhya state highway.

In a meeting with Gadkari, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath sought cooperation of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in the redevelopment of the bus stations phase-wise in all 75 districts. The CM said the NHAI can develop these bus stations on PPP mode. Gadkwari welcomed the CM’s proposal and asked the officers to submit a proposal of 25 bus stations in the first phase.

The CM assured to provide government land free of cost if the Union ministry launches new highway and green-field road projects in the state.

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