In an era of building fast corridors, linking two far ends of connect of importance, to promote commerce, tourism, industry, generate employment, fast and comfortable travel and many other advantages, Holy town of Katra is going to be shortly in headlines for crossing yet another milestone of infrastructural development and progress in the shape of constructing of a Delhi-Katra Express Road Corridor . Being first of its kind, the Corridor is expected to be all ready by the year 2023 heralding an era of development especially of Katra and areas covering en-route. This area in particular, has been reaping benefits of development being a major religious tourism hub with an annual turnout of millions by extending rail link and operating of high speed trains etc and generating associated economic activities.
Chenani Nashri tunnel, construction of various bridges and up-gradation and four lane roads and the like too are indicators of the speed of infrastructural development bound to produce short term and long term benefits resulting in overall progress. We, very often lament in economic terms about the absence of employment opportunities as also insufficient demand for various goods and services and the prestigious Rs.35000 crore Express Road Corridor of Delhi -Katra was going to provide and create tremendous employment opportunities as also demand for various inputs and construction material and generate a chain of economic activities. The sufferings and set back to economic activities on account of lockdown measures to fight Novel Coronavirus are sought to be compensated to an increasing extent by construction of this corridor, if seen in the current perspective.
Since the fact of the matter is that the MP representing the area who also happens to be the MoS in the Union Govt, Dr. Jitendra Singh has been pursuing the ambitious plan, to bring about a turnaround of development in the concerned area, since 2015 and had himself disclosed a few years back about the project, now feels confident about the work on it getting started shortly. Since surveys and other preliminary formalities do take considerable time in such projects, it is heartening to note that the formalities in respect of surveys etc have been completed which otherwise under the established system usually take more time. The next hump to smoothly but timely to cross over, is the land acquisition which, usually a time consuming process, needs to be prompted up and smoothened so as to make it possible to start the work on the first of its kind project in Jammu and Kashmir in the right earnest. In this exercise, Governments of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab need to cooperate with each other purely under considerations of the economic development of the areas the Corridor was to pass through. Needless to add, important places like Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Kapurthala etc in Punjab were going to be greatly benefitted in addition to places like Katra, Jammu and Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir with the corridor. In fact, construction of Highways, roads and in particular Express Corridors, under accelerated Highway development, has received the focussed thrust from the Central Government for the last few years and the one under reference, is probably part of the 9000 kms long economic corridors to augment infrastructure under the Ministry of Road Transport.
Since it would and must be a Greenway Corridor and once completed , people would love to motor all the way through this corridor from Delhi right up to Jammu and Katra in an unbelievably short time of just six hours. As a matter of choice, preference and enjoying comparative comforts , trains and even air travel would, in general cases be deliberately avoided . Tourism would get a fillip and economic activities and generating of income cycles become possible on a micro basis. Let us hope for an earliest start of work on the prestigious and impressive Express Corridor so as the same to be ready by the year 2023.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel