Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari today said the Madhya Pradesh government has been asked to provide required land for the proposed Narmada Expressway so that work begins.
Narmada Expressway is a proposed eight-lane expressway in the state, which will connect the historic towns of Amarkantak in the eastern end of Madhya Pradesh and Alirajpur in the western end of Madhya Pradesh along side of Narmada river.
"There is a proposal to build Narmada Expressway in Madhya Pradesh similar to Yamuna Expressway (in Uttar Pradesh). I have spoken to MP chief minister to complete the land acquisition. Once we get the land, we are ready to commence the work," Gadkari said after unveiling the book "Naman Narmada' by Subhi Publications and authored by Alok Mehta.
Emphasising the need to save rivers, its environment and ecology, the Minister said, "We should not aim extreme of economic growth at the cost of environment."
Although there is confusion about such issues, a solution need to be found through a middle path, he said, stressing the need to create awareness about rivers among the public.
Talking about proper use of river water, the minister said river water gets wasted flowing into the sea and this need to be addressed without hurting the environment and ecology.
For instance, the Polavaram dam on Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh is able to save about 150 tmc water from flowing into the sea, he added.
He also mentioned the recently inaugurated Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river is irrigating 22 lakh hectares land and providing livelihood to 4.5 lakh farmers.
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