Gadkari to inaugurate bridge over Ravi today

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 21

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate a 1,210m span-bridge over the Ravi in Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow. The bridge has been constructed at a cost of Rs 158.84 crore to improve inter-state connectivity. It will benefit over 2.2 lakh people living on both sides—Kathua in Jammu and Pathankot in Punjab. It will reduce the distance between the two cities from 45 km to 8.6 km.

The national highway (NH) network in Jammu and Kashmir has seen an increase of 969 km in the last four years. The total length of NHs in the state was 1,695 km in 2014, which has gone up to 2,664 km in 2018.

Number of NHs has also gone up from seven to 14 in the meantime. New NHs of 969 km were announced during the period. In addition, four state roads of 400 km have also been approved.

Under the PM’s special development package for J&K announced on November 7, 2015, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is executing 16 projects worth Rs 45,107 crore through the NHAI, NHIDCL, State PWD and BRO. Works worth Rs 30,000 crore have started. The NHAI is executing eight projects worth Rs 14,987 crore; NHIDCL and BRO six projects costing Rs 24,120 crore; and PWD two projects for Rs 6,000 crore.