Delhi-Katra Expressway, Akhnoor-Poonch road get more funding
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 18: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari today approved works on major National Highways and roads worth about Rs 3900 crore in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and the neighbouring State of Punjab including construction of Akhnoor-Poonch road on National Highway 144-A.
Gadkari announced the new works through a series of tweets.
“New works will give major boost to road infrastructure in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh besides the State of Punjab,” the officials said.
The Highways Minister has approved a budget of Rs 441 crore for rehabilitation and up gradation work to two-lane with paved shoulder on Akhnoor-Poonch road on the National Highway 144-A.
The work has been approved under Project Sampark (Border Roads Organization) under Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) Mode, the officials said.
They added that the Union Minister has also approved construction work of 4/6-lane Access-Controlled Expressway from junction with Pathankot-Gurdaspur road (National Highway-54) near Balsua to junction with Hiranagar road in Kathua district of Jammu near village Gurha Baildaran of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway.
The project has been approved on Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) mode under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-II.
This will have the cost of Rs 3044.02 crore and will cover the State of Punjab and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the officials said.
In the Union Territory of Ladakh, Gadkari has approved construction work of three realignments including Drass, Kharboo and Kargil between Pandrass-Pashkyum on Zojila-Kargil-Leh road (National Highway-I) with two-lane.
The work has been approved under Project Vijayak (Border Roads Organization) on Engineering Procurement and Construction Mode.
The work has been sanctioned at the cost of Rs 426.14 crore, the officials said.
They said the three works approved at the cost of over Rs 3900 crore today will give major boost to developing highways and road infrastructure network in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and the neighbouring State of Punjab especially Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway which will sharply reduce travel time and distance between New Delhi and Jammu.
Delhi-Katra Expressway will pass through four States/UTs including New Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir and will be major beneficial for travellers. The project has got pace with approval of funds from the Union Ministry for Roads and National Highways which has regularly been monitoring the project.
Work on Akhnoor-Poonch National Highway, as per the officials, is also a major project which will benefit the people a long way as it will also cut travel time and distance on Jammu-Poonch National Highway. Work on Jammu-Akhnoor road is already going on swiftly.
People in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch will be the major beneficiaries of the new Highway, when completed, the officials said.
The Union Territory of Ladakh has also been witnessing major infrastructure development of roads and National Highways including in the strategic areas.
“Many new roads are coming up in the strategic areas in Ladakh,” the officials said, adding the Central Government proposed to connect all border areas with roads to help speedy supplies to the Armed Forces.
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