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Journalism of Courage
The Union Cabinet Tuesday approved the four-laning of the 46.7-km Paramakudi- Ramanathapuram section of NH-87 in Tamil Nadu at a cost of `1,853 crore.
The project is part of the Madurai-Dhanushkodi corridor, which connects the religious centres of Madurai and Rameswaram. The stretch between Madurai and Paramakudi is already four-lane, while a Detailed Project report (DPR) is under preparation for the section from Ramanathapuram to Dhanushkodi.
A senior official of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) said the four laning of the Paramakudi-Ramanathapuram section will increase the average speed of vehicles by 67% (from 48 kmph to 80 kmph) and reduce travel time by 40% (from 60 minutes to 30 minutes).
“Currently, the connectivity between Madurai, Paramakudi, Ramanathapuram, Mandapam, Rameshwaram, and Dhanushkodi is dependent on the existing 2-lane NH-87 and associated State Highways, which experience significant congestion due to high traffic volumes…,” the Ministry said in a statement.
The project will connect with five major National Highways namely NH-38, NH-85, NH-36, NH-536, and NH-32 and three State Highways SH-47, SH-29 and SH-34, which will ensure seamless connectivity across logistics nodes of southern Tamil Nadu and strengthen movement of freight to Rameswaram.
“The project will generate 8.4 lakh man-days direct and 10.5 lakh man-days indirect employment. The annual average daily traffic is estimated at 12,700 passenger car units (PCU),” the statement said. Officials said the Paramakudi-Ramanathapuram project will be in Hybrid Annuity Model, a variant of PPP.
From ticketing, PNR enquiry, food on train to RailMadad services, the RailOne app was launched as a one-stop solution for all passenger services by Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Tuesday. The app integrates services spread across different apps into a single platform for reserved, unreserved and platform ticket bookings, live train tracking, grievance redressal mechanism through RailMadad, PNR enquiry and e-catering. Officials said that 3% discount will be offered on unreserved tickets purchased through R-Wallet.
