Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren on Saturday assured the Centre of prompt nod for land acquisition and forest clearance for road construction while requesting the Union government to focus on tree plantation and elephant corridors along the roads.
Speaking during an online ceremony for the inauguration of seven road projects and laying of foundation stones of 14 roads by Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari, Soren said: “We are a mineral-based state. Minerals are transported by roads and we would require good quality roads. We would like to assure the Centre that our government is serious on prompt nod for land acquisition and forest clearance for road infrastructure projects. However, we would want that tree plantations are given priority alongside the newly constructed roads and the roads are designed and constructed keeping in view the designated elephant corridors with underpass systems wherever possible.”
Soren also requested the road transport ministry to speed up the construction of five economic corridors connecting Jharkhand under the Bharatmala scheme (a centrally sponsored and funded road and highways project) — Raipur (Chhattisgarh) to Dhanbad, Sambalpur (Odisha) to Ranchi, Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) to Ranchi, Ranchi to Paradip (Odisha) and Bakhtiyarpur (Bihar) to Ormanjhi. Soren also urged for linking of Jharkhand with Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and Odisha through a high-speed corridor which will help his state develop as an industrial hub.
During the event, seven roads, whose total length was 245.19km and which were built at a cost of Rs 2,433.66 crore, were inaugurated, while foundation stones were laid for 14 road projects with a total length of 184.8km, which will be built at a cost of around Rs 754.71 crore.
Addressing the ceremony through videoconference, Gadkari said that the roads would be constructed keeping in view the state’s aspirations and the economic corridors being built under the Bharatmala scheme would be completed before the next fiscal.
Gadkari further said that in the next three years nearly Rs 1 lakh crore would be spent for road construction in Jharkhand.
The projects inaugurated on Saturday include the Ghaghra-Gumla road strengthening, Hatgamharia-Jaintagarh road strengthening, Mohulia-Baharagora road, Bijupada-Kudu four-lane, Kutchery Chowk, Ranchi-Piska More-Bijupada four-lane, Barhi-Hazaribagh road, Piska More-Palma Section four-lane.
Foundation stones were laid for projects which include — Kolebira-Simdega National Highway 23 road strengthening and reconstruction, Simdega-Bansjor NH 23 repair and reconstruction, RCC bridge construction at Chindnala on NH 23, RCC bridge construction on local sewer on NH 23, 79-117km road on NH 99 widening and strengthening, widening and other works of road between 11 and 30km on NH 22, widening and other work of road between 48 and 62km on NH 100, widening of road between 23 and 62km on NH 133 and other works, Annaraj Valley on NH 345, improvement and other work of curved road in Garhwa, widening and other work of Kudu-Ghaghra double-lane road, strengthening and reconstruction of road between 10 and 54km on NH 218, canopy on NH 99, construction of road overbridge at NH 114, strengthening of road and other works from 68 to 87km on NH 114, bridge on NH 114 and bridge construction at 46km of NH 419.
