Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday met Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and requested him to declare the remaining 1786.12-km stretch of the Sri Anandpur Sahib-Talwandi Sabo-Nanded Guru Gobind Singh Marg as National Highway and carry out its four-laning.
At a meeting with Union Road Transport and Highways Minister, Mr Badal said the route also has historical significance as tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh undertook his last journey from Sri Anandpur Sahib to Talwandi Sabo and finally to Nanded in Maharashtra on this road.
The Chief Minister said 1294.35-km stretch of this road has been declared as National Highway and urged him to give the same status to the remaining 1786.12 km also.
He said the state government had finalised the entire route Guru Gobind Singh took after intense discussions and consultations with eminent historians and Sikh scholars.
Earlier in the day, Mr Badal met Union Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Birender Singh and requested him for early release of a Rs 226.82-crore project to address drinking water contamination in the state.
He said the state government had submitted a detailed proposal envisaging special allocation to tackle presence of uranium and other heavy metals in water in many areas.
The Chief Minister said a comprehensive project of Rs 226.82 crore for installation of 1,829 water treatment plants in 1,971 habitations was submitted to the Centre in October, 2014.
He requested Mr Singh for early sanction and release of funds so that people could be saved from the curse of water-borne diseases. -- PTI
