News Analysis India

Tag: Bharatmala Pariyojana

  • Chambal Expressway included in Bharatmala Pariyojana phase-1: Nitin Gadkari 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The 404-km Chambal Expressway, passing through far-flung areas of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, has been included in phase-1 of Bharatmala Pariyojana, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday.

    Last year, Gadkari had said the Rs 8,250-crore Chambal Expressway project could be a game-changer for the poor and tribals living in far-flung regions of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

    He had also urged these states to expedite land acquisition, environment clearances and tax relief for the project.

    “Following projects have been included in Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-1: Chambal Expressway (404 Km), Greenfield connectivity of NH-26 and NH-75 outside Jhansi (16.8 Km) and Dwarka Circle to Nashik Road section of NH-60 (5.9 Km),” he tweeted.

    The Chambal Expressway project will also provide cross-connectivity with the Golden Quadrilateral’s Delhi-Kolkata corridor, North-South corridor, East-West corridor and Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.

    Bharatmala Pariyojana is an umbrella program for the highways sector that focuses on optimising efficiency of freight and passenger movement through interventions like development of economic corridors, coastal and port connectivity roads and greenfield expressways.

  • Amarinder to meet Gadkari to seek land relief revision for farmers

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday assured a farmers’ delegation that he will soon take up with the Centre their demand for the revision of compensation against land acquired by the NHAI under the ‘Bharatmala Pariyojana’.

    He also directed the financial commissioner revenue (FCR) to immediately issue detailed instructions to the concerned officials not to credit the compensation amount into farmers’ bank accounts against their will, according to a government statement issued here.

    The issue relates to 25,000 hectares of land in 15 districts of the state. The land is under the process of acquisition under the ‘Bharatmala Pariyojna’.

    Multiple expressways, including Delhi-Jammu-Katra, Jamnagar-Amritsar, Ludhiana-Ropar, Bathinda-Dabwali, and Jalandhar and Ludhiana bypass, will be built on this land.

    Farmers have rejected the “meagre” compensation awarded by the district revenue officers (DROs), who have been designated as the Competent Authority for Land Acquisitions, for their lands acquired by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under the ‘Bharatmala Pariyojana’.

    The government envisages building 34,800 km of highways at a cost of about Rs 5.35 lakh crore under the ambitious ‘Bharatmala Pariyojna’.

    Singh met a delegation of Road Kissan Sangharsh Committee here led by its state president Sukhdev Singh Dhillon, the statement said.

    During the meeting, the CM assured the farmers’ delegation that he will soon meet Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari to raise their demand, it said.

    He directed his principal secretary to seek an early appointment with Gadkari and asked the director general of police to ensure that farmers’ land is not forcibly seized, it added.

    Singh stressed the need to resolve the issue on priority to the satisfaction of farmers, who have been protesting for the past several months, the statement said.

    He also directed FCR Ravneet Kaur and Principal Secretary PWD (buildings and roads) Vikas Partap to jointly prepare a comprehensive case, in consultation with the representatives of the committee, to highlight the “glaring discrepancies” in deciding the compensation for the farmers under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, it said.

    The CM ruled out the possibility of referring such cases for arbitration as it will unnecessarily lead to an inordinate delay in seeking justice for the farmers, it said.