Nitin Gadkari inaugurates 5 highways, says better road network key to development

While speaking at the inauguration of five national highway (NH) projects, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on April 4 asserted that a better road network is the key to development. “The Central government has been taking steps to improve road connectivity across the country. The road network is getting strengthened rapidly which is also helping generate new avenues of employment,” said Gadkari. 

According to an official statement, Gadkari inaugurated Jind-Gohana NH-352A built for Rs 132 crore, Bhiwani-Mundhal-Jind NH-709A at Rs 183 crore, Jhajjar-Loharu NH-334B at Rs 136.25 crore, UP/Haryana border to Gohana NH-334B at Rs 1,020 crore, and Mukarba Chowk to Panipat NH-44 constructed for Rs 1,400 crore.

“Better road network is key to development,” Gadkari said. He further said that for development four things are important. "Water, power, transport, and communication -- and where these four things are, there is industry, employment, and growth there," he said.

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Pointing out how good roads bring progress, Gadkari said former United States President John F Kennedy had once said, "American roads are not good because America is rich, but America is rich because American roads are good."

The Union minister cited an example of the Delhi-Meerut highway and said with its completion, travel time, which used to be four-and-a-half hours earlier, has now reduced to 40 minutes. Gadkari further said that after the completion of the Delhi-Amritsar road project, travel time between the two cities will be reduced to four hours, the Delhi-Katra journey will be six hours, and Delhi to Srinagar will be covered in eight hours. 

The Delhi-Chandigarh journey will soon be completed in two hours, he said, adding that many of those travelling by air will opt for road journeys after travel time is cut drastically. Gadkari also talked about several other projects and said Asia's biggest tunnel is being built in Zojila in J&K.

On the demand of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to start pod taxis in the state, Gadkari said that his department is working on it. “We will start a pod taxi service from Delhi to Sonipat and Panipat for 250 people, and for this, the Haryana government should send a proposal to the Centre,” he said.

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Speaking on the occasion, Khattar said that Gadkari always works on new technology. The chief minister said that the central government had announced 17 national highways for Haryana, of which at least 12 have been completed. Union Minister of State V K Singh, Haryana's Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, and Sonipat MP Ramesh Chander Kaushik were also present at the event.

Earlier, while inaugurating the Indradhanush Auditorium at GVM Mahila College, Sonipat, Khattar reiterated that girls of those families earning up to Rs 1.80 lakh annually will be given free education till post-graduation.

"Daughters of such families can either take education from private educational institutions or government centres," he said. Khattar said that the government has set up one college every 20km in the state so that girl students do not have to travel far for pursuing higher education. 

(With inputs from PTI)

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