Delhi-Kullu travel time will be seven hours: Nitin Gadkari

Our Correspondent

Kullu, June 27

Kullu Sadar MLA Sunder Singh Thakur met Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari at the Bhuntar airport today and discussed issues of Bhubu tunnel, Jalori tunnel, slow progress on Kiratpur-Ner Chowk-Kullu national highway, Bhuntar-Manikaran-Barshaini road, airport expansion, mono cable ropeway in Kullu city, parking issues, etc, with the union minister as he returned after his four-day sojourn with his family in Manali.

Gopal Krishna Mahant, president, Kullu Municipal Council, and Kullu Zilla Parishad chairman Pankaj Parmar were also present. The Union minister asked the MLA to come to Delhi with a detailed report and meet him in July.

Local MLA and education minister Govind Singh Thakur thanked the Union minister for announcing road projects worth Rs 15,000 crores for Himachal. Govind Thakur also expressed his gratitude to Gadkari for many other assurances as Gadkari promised that work would be undertaken to ensure that the travel time from Delhi to Kullu was reduced to seven hours within the next two years.

Thakur said that the union minister stated that a DPR should be prepared for construction of 40-km left bank double lane road project from Kullu to Manali at the earliest. The Union minister assured to provide all possible help to the state government to strengthen the road connectivity in the state.

Thakur said that priority would be given to construction of ropeways to connect pristine locations which will preserve the ecology and attract tourists as well. He said that Gadkari assured full cooperation for the construction of such alternate routes.