Published & Updated as on - 2010-03-21
Highlighting
the importance of laying roads in nation-building, the Union Minister of State
for Road Transport & Highways R. P. N. Singh asserted that the four-laning
of the Hyderabad-Vijayawada section of the National Highway-9 would be
completed by October 2012.
He was addressing a public
meeting after laying the foundation for the four-laning of the 182-km stretch
of NH-9 at Narketpally on Sunday evening. Chief Minister K. Rosaiah and Union
Minister for Urban Development S. Jaipal Reddy attended the function, the first
major one in Telangana region in the last three months.
BOT
basis
Mr Singh said that the expansion
project from Hyderabad to Vijayawada on NH-9 was taken up at an estimated cost
of Rs 1,170 crore on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis. The project also
envisages augmenting the four-lane facility to six-lane standards before 14th
year.
The NH-9, which begins at Pune in Maharashtra, extends
over 841 km with 336 km in Maharashtra, 75 km in Karnataka and 430 km in Andhra
Pradesh and ends at Machilipatnam.
A total of 525 km the
National Highways has been identified in Andhra Pradesh for four-laning on BOT
basis under NHDP Phase-III, the Union Minister said, adding that four-laning of
1,024 kms length of NH-5 (Golden Quadrilateral) was already completed. The
stretch is now again being improved to six-laning standards by the National
Highways Authority of India.
Project
delayed
Mr Jaipal Reddy said that the
project which was sanctioned in November 2007 was delayed due to technical
reasons.
The contractors approached the courts which further
delayed the execution of the project by one year. Ultimately the project took
off much to the delight of all of us, he remarked.
Chief
Minister K. Rosaiah said that improved road infrastructure fosters the
comprehensive development of backward areas.
The expansion
project would ease traffic congestion and prevent accidents on the high traffic
density stretch of NH-9 which earlier witnessed accidents at regular intervals,
he said.
Source: The Hindu 22/3/10 |
