Centre okays Rs 159 crore for two roads

Deepanker Gupta

Udhampur, September 12

The 40-km Udhampur-Ghordi road and the 28-km Mantalai-Dudu road, which have been the long-pending public demands of locals, will be constructed at a cost of Rs 159.03 crore through the Central Road Fund of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways soon.

This amount will be in addition to Rs 131 crore sanctioned for the construction of roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in the Chenani Assembly segment of the Udhampur-Kathua-Doda Lok Sabha constituency.

The total amount sanctioned for the construction of roads under the PMGSY in Udhampur district is Rs 300 crore. This was disclosed by Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh while talking to mediapersons here today.

The requisition for the construction of the above road was submitted to the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and was duly recommended by the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.

However, the detailed project report and other requisite formalities from the state government are awaited, following the completion of which, the funds could be released.

In case, the state government submits the papers on time, the project could be taken up in the current plan itself.

Jitendra Singh thanked Union Minister Nitin Gadkari for his liberal patronage to all projects submitted to him. He said the budget approvals for the Keediyan-Gandhyal inter-state bridge and Juthana Bridge in Kathua district were also possible because of the personal intervention of Gadkari. He also thanked Gadkari for the state-of-the-art Chenani-Nashri tunnel and the proposed Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway.

Dina Nath Bhagat, Chenani MLA, lauded the efforts of Jitendra Singh and his continuous follow-up with various ministries.