Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said he will ensure that the 670-km Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Greenfield Expressway gets completed before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Pointing out that the completion of the Rs 40,000-crore Expressway is scheduled for December 2024, Gadkari said: “May mein chunav hein. Chunav ke baad… humein kya fayda hai. Humein to usska udghatan karna hai ([Lok Sabha] elections are scheduled for May 2024. [Inauguration] after that is of no use to us. We have to inaugurate it).” “Saaf baat karne mein mujhe koi sankoch nahin hota (I never feel hesitant in speaking the truth),” he told mediapersons in Katra. “I will try that the NHAI completes this project before the enforcement of the model code of conduct for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and we get it inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February-March,” he said. Accompanied by Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh, MoS MoRTH V K Singh, and J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, Gadkari said that with the completion of the Expressway, the travel time between Delhi and Srinagar will reduce to eight hours. “I do not think anyone from Delhi will come to Vaishno Devi by air once the road is through,’’ he added. He also announced his ministry’s approval to the construction of a road up to Amarnath shrine at a cost of Rs 5,300 crore. Announcing the widening of the existing 110-km road from Khanabal to Chandanwari and then Chandanwari to Baltal via Panchtarni, he said that there will be a 10-km tunnel between Seshnag and Panchtarani. From Panchtarni to Amarnath shrine, a 5-km concrete footpath will be constructed with barricades on both sides, he added. He also announced the establishment of a worldclass state-of-the-art Inter-Modal Station (IMS) in Katra for Vaishno Devi pilgrims. Pointing out that developmental works worth Rs 1,30,000 crore are being taken up by MoRTH in J&K, and since 2014, around 500 km of road network has been completed in the region, Gadkari said that 41 significant tunnels are being constructed in J&K and Ladakh at a cost of Rs 45,000 crore. Eighteen ropeways worth Rs 5,000 crore will also be constructed in the UT, he added.
