Page 5 - Highways

ADB, India sign $295 mn loan pact to upgrade state highways in Bihar

Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the central government on Thursday signed an agreement for a USD 295 million loan to upgrade around 265-kilometre state highways with climate and disaster-resilient design and road safety elements in Bihar. The project supports the Bihar government programme to upgrade all state highways to standard two-lane widths and improve road safety, ADB said in a statement. The improved roads will enhance connectivity in some of Bihar's poorest rural districts and promote access to health and education facilities and markets to improve people's lives, it added. The project will also encourage women's participation by providing employment to female workers in construction works, it said, adding training in livelihood as well as awareness on road safety, health, hygiene, abuse and harassment will be offered to women from communities in the project areas. Since 2008, ADB has provided five loans totalling USD 1.63 billion to Bihar for the upgradation of about ...

Rains in HP: Flash floods damage houses, Shimla-Kinnaur highway blocked

Flash floods damaged houses and inundated agricultural land in Himachal Pradesh's Kamru Panchayat on Thursday while the Shimla-Kinnaur highway was blocked due to a swollen Broni stream between Rampur and Jhakri, officials said. Since the onset of monsoon in the hill state, 130 people have died in rain-related incidents such as landslides and flash floods, and road accidents, according to the Himachal Pradesh State Emergency Response Centre. The state has suffered a loss of Rs 4,809 crore. On the situation in Kamru Panchayat in the Sangla Valley, Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Tarul S Raveesh said flash floods increased the water flow in a stream. Horticulture as well as agriculture land have been inundated and the loss is being assessed, the official said. Reports of damage to houses and vehicles are also pouring in, the DC said and added that no casualty has been reported yet. Shimla DC Aditya Negi said following a cloudburst, water level in the Broni Nallah increased and inunda

Jammu-Srinagar highway closed for second day, restoration work on

Traffic movement on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway remained suspended for the second day on Sunday as authorities stepped up efforts to restore the road amid improved weather conditions, officials said. The 270-km highway, the only all weather road linking Kashmir with rest of the country, was closed for traffic on Saturday following heavy rains overnight that triggered multiple landslides and also washed away a portion of nearly 40-metre road stretch near Panthiyal tunnel in Ramban district. The closure of the highway left over 3,500 vehicles, including those carrying Amarnath pilgrims from Jammu to Kashmir, stranded at different places. After hectic efforts, the highway was partially opened for stranded vehicles with concerned agencies bypassing the damaged road stretch by connecting an old road alignment and clearing the debris, the officials said. However, they said sinking of road at Chamba near Seeri and fresh landslides at Mehar and Cafeteria Morh forced the authorities

Army patrols along J-K highway to ensure safety of Amarnath pilgrims

The Army is conducting area domination patrols daily along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway with drones, surveillance equipment and sniffer dogs to ensure a secure passage for Amarnath pilgrims, officials said on Saturday. The drills on the highway are an integral part of the multi-security grid responsible for facilitating a smooth and incident-free pilgrimage spanning 62 days from July 1, they said. "The Army undertakes intense area domination patrolling along the entire route of the yatra, from Jammu to Banihal and beyond, providing security to pilgrims," a senior security official told PTI. This proactive approach establishes a protective layer to deter terrorists from approaching the national highway and targeting convoys of pilgrims, he said. Equipped with state-of-the-art gadgets such as drones, metal detectors and surveillance equipment, and sniffer dogs, the soldiers meticulously sanitise the highway and certain hinterland areas as part of their security duties, the ...

CM Baghel reviews preparations for PM Modi's upcoming visit to Raipur

Chhattisgarh Police said that elaborate security arrangements have been made for the daylong visit of PM Modi scheduled on July 7

Gadkari says 70% work of India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway complete

Around 70 per cent construction work on the ambitious India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway has been completed, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said. India, Thailand and Myanmar are working on about 1,400-km-long highway that would link the country with Southeast Asia by land and give a boost to trade, business, health, education and tourism ties among the three countries. "Around 70 per cent work of the project is completed," the minister of Road Transport & Highways told PTI in reply to a question on the progress of the project. The highway will connect Moreh in Manipur, India with Mae Sot in Thailand via Myanmar. The minister did not provide details on the timeline for completion and operationalisation of the trilateral highway. The strategic highway project has been delayed. Earlier, the government was aiming to make the highway operational by December 2019.

Haryana farmers hold 'mahapanchayat' along Delhi-Chandigarh highway

Traffic on the Delhi-Chandigarh National Highway was disrupted on Monday as farmers gathered there after holding a mahapanchayat in this district to press for minimum support price for sunflower seed. Apart from leaders of various khaps and Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait, Olympic medal-winning wrestler Bajrang Punia, one of the grapplers who have been demanding action against outgoing Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, were present at the mahapanchayat. The "MSP Dilao, Kisan Bachao mahapanchayat", called by Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni), was being held at a grain market in Pipli close to National Highway-44 which was blocked by farmers a few days ago demanding that the government procure sunflower seed at MSP. After the mahapanchayat the farmers started marching towards the highway. Farmers led by Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni) chief Gurnam Singh Charuni had June 6 blocked the national highway near Shahabad for over six hours demanding tha

In talks with industry for development of electric highways: Gadkari

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said he is in discussion with industry players on development of economically viable electric highways. The minister for road transport and highways highlighted the need to develop "import substitute cost-effective, pollution-free and indigenous technology", asserting that sustainable development is the ultimate goal. "The way our cities are developing, ultimately we (will) need to reform our urban laws. At the same time these cities and this traffic congestion and pollution is becoming a big challenge for the society. A city like Bengaluru, it is difficult for people to go to their office, it takes two hours," Gadkari said at a CII event here. He emphasised that big corporates need to come forward and build sustainable business models. "Yesterday I had a discussion with Tata and other people, that how we can make economically viable electric highway," Gadkari said. The minister stated that there is a need to convince people that making ..

Govt to set up helipads, drone landing facilities on highways: Gadkari

NHAI is developing world-class Wayside Amenities at more than 600 locations along the National Highways, said the the Minister for Road Transport and Highways in a statement

Shiv Sena (UBT) demands highway toll exemption for Amarnath pilgrims

The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Shiv Sena (UBT) on Friday demanded free registration and highway toll exemption for Amarnath pilgrims. The registration for the annual Amarnath pilgrimage began on April 17. The 62-day pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine in south Kashmir is scheduled to start on July 1. Manish Sahni, the president of the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Shiv Sena (UBT), said it was unfortunate that there was no positive response to their demands even after repeated representations to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta. "If there is no positive response to our demands for free registration for pilgrims and toll exemption for their vehicles within a week, a nationwide agitation will be launched," he told reporters here.

IRB Infrastructure bags 158 km-project in Hyderabad for Rs 7,380 cr

IRB Infrastructure Developers on Thursday said it has bagged 158 kilometre-long Hyderabad outer ring road project under the toll-operate-transfer model for Rs 7,380 crore. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) had invited global competitive bids for the project, in which IRB had participated and emerged as the selected bidder. "After signing the concession agreement, the project SPV will be making the payment of Rs 7,380 crore within a span of 120 days," IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd said in a statement. IRB Infrastructure Developers chairman and managing director Virendra D Mhaiskar said this project will take the company's asset base to over Rs 70,000 crore and share in toll-operate-transfer (TOT) space to 37 per cent, the largest by any private player in India. The Hyderabad outer ring road (ORR) is a 158 kilometers, 8 lanes ring road expressway, encircling Hyderabad, Telangana. Opened up in December 2012, the large part of around 124 km of ORR covers urba

Road Ministry targets construction of 12,500 km of highways in FY24

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has put plans in place to maintain the pace of highway development and construct 12,500 km of highways in the current financial year, a senior official on Wednesday said. Alka Upadhyaya, Secretary, MoRTH, said Rs 10,000 crore is planned to be raised through Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) mode in FY 2023-24. "MoRTH has put plans in place to maintain the pace of highway development, with a strong pipeline of projects across the country. "For 2023-24, MoRTH has taken up targets to award 12,000 km and construct 12,500 km of highways in the country," she told PTI. The road transport and highways ministry is yet to declare data on the construction and award of highway projects for 2022-23. The ministry has constructed 10,237 kilometres in 2019-20, 13,327 kilometres in 2020-21 and 10,457 kilometres in 2021-22. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Lt

MoRTH pumps in Rs 1.3 trn for highways, tunnels in J&K and Ladakh

A total of 41 significant tunnels are being constructed in J&K and Ladakh at a cost of Rs 45,000 crore, while 18 ropeways costing Rs 5,000 crore will be constructed in the UT

Come Jan, travel from Mumbai to Goa on new highway in just 4.5 hrs: Gadkari

There will be massive tree plantations, signages as per world standards and other facilities to make the travel faster, easier and safer on the Mumbai-Goa National Highway

Youth Congress workers block Delhi-Jaipur Highway on RaGa disqualification

Many Youth Congress workers on Saturday blocked the Delhi-Jaipur Highway here and burnt tyres in protest against the disqualification of party leader Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha. The party workers led by Haryana Youth Congress chief Divyanshu Budhiraja reached near Kherki Daula toll plaza at around 12:30 pm and raised slogans against the BJP government. The Centre has cancelled the membership of Rahul Gandhi to suppress the voice of the Opposition. We will protest on the streets against the dictatorial decision of the BJP government which is scared of the support received by Gandhi-led 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'," Budhiraja said. The Gurugram police reached the protest site and detained one of the protesters. "Vikas Parmar alias Lala, a resident of Rohtak, was detained. He was released later," a police officer said. Following the complaint of ASI Yogender Kumar, an FIR was registered against about 20 protesters under sections 147 (riots), 283 (obstruction in public way), 341 (wrongfu

Rs 804 cr disbursed as land compensation in NH projects in Himachal: CM

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has said a sum of Rs 804 crore has been disbursed as land compensation in various national highway projects within a month in the state. The chief minister stressed on completion of the disbursement process of the remaining compensation cases worth about Rs 750 crore by March 27, 2023. He was reviewing the progress of various ongoing National Highway (NH) projects in the state focusing on resolving issues related to land compensation, clearances of FRA (Forest Rights Act) and FCA (Forest Conservation Act) and other bottlenecks of the projects on Sunday, a release issued here said. As the roads are the lifeline of Himachal Pradesh, the state government has been working diligently to ensure the timely completion of national highway projects, he said. The state government's efforts to expedite the land compensation and other clearances process would facilitate smoother implementation of the projects and provide better road ...

Road transport and highways sector has maximum delayed projects: Report

The road transport and highways sector has the maximum number of delayed projects at 460, followed by railways at 117 and the petroleum industry at 90, showed a government report. In the road transport and highways sector, 460 out of 749 projects are delayed. In railways, out of 173 projects, 117 are delayed, while in the petroleum sector, 90 out of 152 projects are running behind schedule, as per the latest flash report on infrastructure projects for January 2023. The Infrastructure and Project Monitoring Division (IPMD) is mandated to monitor central sector infrastructure projects costing Rs 150 crore and above based on the information provided on the Online Computerised Monitoring System (OCMS) by the project implementing agencies. The IPMD comes under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The report showed that the Muneerabad-Mahaboobnagar rail project is the most delayed project. It is delayed by 276 months. The second-most delayed project is the ...

Jammu-Srinagar highway reopens after 38-hour closure due to landslide

The one-way traffic resumed on the 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway on Wednesday after remaining suspended for about 38-hours following a landslide in Ramban district, officials said. Deputy Superintendent of Police, Traffic (national highway), Banihal, Asghar Malik said the road clearance operation at the landslide-hit Sher Bibi near Banihal was still going on. Hundreds of vehicles were left stranded on the highway after a massive landslide blocked the arterial road at Sher Bibi around 2 am Tuesday. The road clearance operation was hampered by continuous shooting of stones from the hillock throughout the day. Despite intermittent shooting of stones, the road clearance agencies worked hard since this morning to ensure that the road is opened for one-way traffic which was allowed at around 4 pm (Wednesday), Malik said. No fresh traffic was allowed either from Srinagar or Jammu for the second day in the morning as authorities focused on road clearance operation and to clear the

5,500 km highways to be turned into e-ways via public-private partnership

The National Highways for Electric Vehicles will have 111 stations across 23 cities in project under annuity hybrid e-mobility model

Over 5,400 vehicles scrapped at Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities

A total of 5,359 private and 67 commercial vehicles have been scrapped at Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities set up in accordance with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways notification