Widening of 40,000 km of national highways taken up
Special Correspondent
VELLORE: The United Progressive Alliance Government has taken up widening of an additional 40,000 km of national highways (NH) and other roads under the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP), according to Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways T.R. Baalu.
Speaking at the inaugural function of the high-level bridge across Ponnai river at Tiruvalam near Ranipet on Friday, Mr. Baalu said that the ‘Golden Quadrilateral’ had almost been completed under the NHDP Phase-I. Implementation of the NHDP Phase-II, linking Kashmir to Kanyakumari (North-South Corridor) and Silchar to Porbander (East-West Corridor), is progressing at a faster pace. Earlier, the NHDP was initiated with only two phases covering four-laning of 14,000 km of NH at a cost of Rs.64,639 crore. The Centre had expanded the scope of the programme by including an additional 40,000 km of NH and other roads into its fold.
Mr. Baalu said that five phases of this programme included four-laning of 12,109 km of NH under the NHDP Phase-III, two-laning with paved shoulders of 20,000 km of NH under the NHDP Phase-IV, six-laning of 6,500 km of stretches of ‘Golden Quadrilateral’ and other high density stretches under the NHDP Phase-V, construction of 1,000 km of Expressways under the NHDP Phase-VI and construction of flyovers, ring roads, interchanges and bypasses under the NHDP Phase-VII.
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