Four more Haryana districts to join NCR

The National Capital Region (NCR) is set to expand with the inclusion of four more districts in Haryana: Mahendragarh, Bhiwani, Jind and Karnal.

The NCR Planning Board Monday gave the approval, an official spokesperson said. Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath said the board had also approved the inclusion of Bharatpur district in Rajasthan in the NCR.

The meeting was attended by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Lt. Governor of Delhi Tejender Khanna, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Union Housing Minister Girija Vyas among others.

The Asian Development Bank has approved six more road projects for Haryana.

Kamal Nath called for a Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) to reduce travel time within the NCR, which includes the whole of Delhi and parts of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana.

He was speaking at the 33rd meeting of the NCR Planning Board in New Delhi.

An NCR Transport Corp which is to be formed will implement RRTS projects of Delhi-Panipat (111 km), Delhi-Alwar (180 km) and Delhi-Meerut (90 km).

The share of all the four States - Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan - in the corporation's equity would be 12.5 percent each.

Kamal Nath said work on the three corridors would start soon and be completed by 2016. The NCR Planning Board will contribute Rs.200 crore, to begin with.

Hooda said the Haryana sub-region had checked migration to Delhi and attracted reverse migration.

Gurgaon city had grown 293 percent in the last decade, registering the highest growth rate in the region, he said.