AMN
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday asked the Maharashtra Government to try and set up a scrapping unit in each of its districts. Mr. Gadkari was in Mumbai to hold a review meeting for various road development projects being implemented in Maharashtra. Stating that the Centre has issued guidelines for scrapping of vehicles that are 15 years old, Mr. Gadkari said the state should assess the possibility of setting up of two to four scrapping units in each district. He added that it can generate employment for atleast ten to fifteen thousand people.
Mr. Gadkari further directed concerned officials to speed up land acquisition, resolution of pending arbitration issues, clearance from forest or other departments as required, allotting land for the project-affected people and also for transplanting of trees to speed up construction of various roads, highways and expressways.
According to an official statement, 435 kilometers of roads have been proposed across Mumbai via nine individual projects. Besides, six greenfield expressways measuring close to 621 kilometers, five elevated corridors and flyovers, service roads and bridges at 68 spots are also under consideration for development in the near future. During the meeting, Mr. Gadkari was informed about the progress made under the Bharatmala project as well as the Mumbai-Goa Highway project among others.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, state PWD Minister Ravindra Chavan, senior officials of the National Highway Authority Of India, union road ministry and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation were present for the meeting.
Stressing on the timely completion of projects, Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Eknath Shinde directed officials to focus on getting all necessary permissions, including from forest department and with regard to land acquisition so as to avoid delays. Stating that faster urbanisation requires faster development of infrastructure, Mr. Shinde said timely completion of projects will also ensure there is no cost escalation.