Project to be completed at a cost of Rs 40,000 cr
Of 135 kms length in J&K, work on in 120 kms
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Oct 19: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari today said 669 kilometres long Greenfield Expressway Delhi-Amritsar-Katra is being built at a cost of Rs 40,000 crore which will reduce travel distance from Delhi to Katra by 58 kilometres.
“Presently, the distance from New Delhi to Katra is 727 kilometres. With the construction of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway, the distance will be reduced by 58 kilometres,” Gadkari said while inspecting work on the Expressway in Amritsar district today.
He said the Expressway is being constructed at the cost of Rs 40,000 crore. With its construction, the people can reach Amritsar from Delhi in four hours and Katra from Delhi in six hours.
A major feature of this corridor includes Asia’s longest 1300 meter long cable stayed bridge over the Beas River. This Expressway will connect the major religious places of the Sikh community, the Golden Temple, Sultanpur Lodhi Gurdwara in Kapurthala district, Goindwal Sahib Gurdwara, Khandur Sahib Gurdwara, Gurdwara Darbar Sahib (Taran Taran) till Mata Darbar Vaishno Devi in Katra in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, the Union Minister said.
Starting from KMP in Delhi, the Expressway is being built for 137 km in Haryana. The length of this expressway in Punjab is 399 km, of which work has started on 296 km. The length of the Expressway in Jammu and Kashmir is 135 km, of which work is going on in 120 km.
In Punjab, the Expressway will pass through industrial areas like Patiala, Sangrur, Malerkotla, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Gurdaspur.
Initially Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway was scheduled to be completed in December 2024. However, there have been efforts by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to complete the work at the earliest.
During his visit to Jammu and Kashmir in April this year, MoRTH Minister Nitin Gadkari had hinted at completion of work on Delhi-Katra Expressway before Lok Sabha elections.
The MoRTH Ministry, however, is yet to give a specific deadline for completion of work.
People travelling in their vehicles from New Delhi will be able to reach Srinagar within 10-11 hours after completion of the Expressway. It will take around six hours to reach from Delhi to Jammu and another four-five hours for reaching Srinagar, the officials said.
Work on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway widening has also reached crucial stage with work now under execution in landslide and shooting stone prone areas between Ramban and Banihal.
The Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway will be complete access controlled and an environmental friendly Expressway with planned cover of about 10 lakh trees to improve carbon footprints. Entry and exit from the Expressway planned at designated interchanges on all National Highways and major State Highways intersecting the Expressway. For comfort of the road user, 40 wayside Amenities including seven in J&K will be constructed.
Sources said the pilgrims visiting holy cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi Ji will be major beneficiaries with construction of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway especially those travelling by road from Northern Indian States/Union Territories of New Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh as the Expressway will sharply reduce travel time.
The Expressway, as per the sources, will also benefit not only Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrims but other travellers like tourists of Jammu and Kashmir, those on industrial and other visits and common passengers.
After completion of Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, the travellers will be further benefitted with New Delhi-Srinagar journey hardly taking time of approximately 10 hours.
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