Chief Minister Mr. Baghel and Union Minister Mr. Gadkari inaugurated 33 road projects worth Rs.9240 crores in Chhattisgarh
Chief Minister demanded approval of Raigarh-Gharghoda-Dharamjaigarh-Pathalgaon road, Ambikapur-Wadraffnagar-Bahni-Rankoot-Banaras road, Pandariya-Bajag-Gadasarai road under Bharat Mala Yojna
Union Minister assures sanction of the demand under Bharat Mala Project-2
Chhattisgarh is consistently maintaining the lead in the race for development: Union Minister Mr. Nitin Gadkari
Raipur, 21 April 2022 / Chief Minister Mr. Bhupesh Baghel and Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Mr. Nitin Gadkari today inaugurated and laid foundation of 33 road projects of total 1017 km in Chhattisgarh, worth Rs.9240 crore. The ceremony was organized by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India and the National Highways Authority of India at Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Medical College in the capital Raipur.
With construction of these roads, connectivity of Chhattisgarh with the neighbouring states of Odisha, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh will significantly improve. Implementation of these road projects would develop a smooth road network for the backward areas of the state, which would result in saving of fuel, travel time, distance and overall transportation cost. At the programme, on Chief Minister Mr. Bhupesh Baghel’s request, Union Minister Mr. Gadkari assured of approving maximum number of road projects for Chhattisgarh. Chief Minister Mr. Baghel thanked Mr. Nitin Gadkari for his approval to the road projects of Chhattisgarh.
On the occasion, Chief Minister Mr. Baghel requested Union Minister to approve construction of three roads in Chhattisgarh including 75 km long Raigarh-Gharghoda-Dharamjaigarh-Patthal rural road, 110.60 km long Ambikapur-Wadraffnagar-Bahni-Rankoot-Banaras road, 37 km long Pandariya-Bajag-Gadasarai road. Union Minister Mr. Gadkari has assured of including the aforementioned roads under Bharat Mala Project-2.
Mr. Baghel said that with a view to provide easy and safe transport facility to common people on national highways, Chhattisgarh Government has completed the construction of Dhamtari Fourlane from National Highway-30, Raipur. Requesting to approve construction of 10 km service road from Raipur to Shadani Darbar, construction of flyover between Tatibandh Chowk to Magneto Mall in Raipur city, approval to link the road from NH-30 in village Dhaneli to Sarangarh via Vidhan Sabha, Balodabazar to National Highway 30, and to declare the part of road from Vidhan Sabha to Jora (NH.53) as National Highway, Chief Minister said that this would make available the National Highway from Bilaspur to Nava Raipur, Mahasamund, Sambalpur. Chief Minister Mr.Baghel also demanded that Ram Van Gaman Path of 1000 km, Chandrapur-Kharsia-Pathalgaon road, 23 km long Kumhari-Bhilai Bypass, and 195 km long Bardula-Nagri-Kanker-Sambalpur-Manpur road as National Highways.
Chief Minister Mr. Baghel said that the total distance covered by National Highways in Chhattisgarh is 3525 km. Out of which, 2447 km is being constructed and maintained by Public Works Department and remaining 1078 km by NHAI. He thanked Union Minister for approving the construction of Champa-Urga-Korba road, Pali-Katghora road, Mungeli-Pondi road, Jhalmala-Sherpar-Manpur road, Abhanpur-Pond road, Madangmuda to Devbhog road and for including Raipur-Visakhapatnam road, Bilaspur-Urga-Pathalgaon road, Champa-Korba road under Bharat Mala and Economic Corridor scheme.
Chief Minister said that the main responsibilities of State Government under National Highway projects include the works of land acquisition, forest land diversion, utility shifting. And to ensure timely completion of all these works as well as to review the progress every month, a High Power Committee was constituted under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary. He also informed that for the year 2022-23, an annual plan of Rs 2100 crore has been presented by the Public Works Department for the works of National Highways.
In his address to the programme, Union Minister Mr. Nitin Gadkari said that Chhattisgarh is continuously moving ahead in the race of development. Good roads are the basis of prosperity and progress of any country and state. On the request of Chief Minister Mr. Bhupesh Baghel, Mr. Gadkari announced Rs 300 crore for construction of ROB in Chhattisgarh and said that in addition to this, Rs 400 crore would be sanctioned to Chhattisgarh in year 2022-23 for ROB. In this way total Rs 700 crore will be available for ROB in Chhattisgarh. He informed that a plan has been made to develop a logistics park in 200 acres near Arang Pachera. Mr. Gadkari said that there are 118 industries of iron and cement in Chhattisgarh. With the development of logistics facility, industries will develop further and more employment opportunities will be generated. He proposed the state government to provide logistic facility close to the ntional highways. Mr. Gadkari assured of extending every possible support to Chhattisgarh.
Union Minister Mr. Gadkari said that if the work of land acquisition and permit-clearance in forest areas is done expeditiously for various road projects and under-construction of National Highways, then by year 2024, roads worth nearly Rs one lakh crore will be constructed in Chhattisgarh. He also said that in the next 5 years, Chhattisgarh will have roads like America. He said that the Central Government has given the state the permission to open ethanol pumps. Ethanol is the fuel of the future and Chhattisgarh has great potential for ethanol production from rice and hay. With the production of ethanol in the state, farmers would thrive in both their roles as a food provider and an energy provider. Referring to the Raipur-Visakhapatnam road, Mr. Gadkari said that the work on this road project approved under Bharat Mala Project Economic Corridor Scheme has started. In the near future, this road will prove to be the path of development for Chhattisgarh. He said that the Raipur-Visakhapatnam stretch would be reduced by 200 km with a cost of about Rs 16,000 crore. With the construction of this road, Chhattisgarh will be able to have a good port connectivity and the minerals of Chhattisgarh will be easily accessible to different parts of the country and the world. Mr. Gadkari also informed about the progress of various road projects in Chhattisgarh at the programme.
Home and Public Works Minister of Chhattisgarh Mr. Tamradhwaj Sahu, Leader of Opposition Mr. Dharamlal Kaushik also addressed the programme. On this occasion, Chhattisgarh’s Revenue Minister Mr. Jaisingh Agarwal, MPs namely Mr. Sunil Soni, Mr. Santosh Pandey and Mr. Arun Sao, former Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh and many MLAs and public representatives and prominent citizens were present on the occasion. Chhattisgarh Public Works Department Secretary Siddharth Komal Singh Pardeshi delivered the welcome address.
