By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari dedicated to Nation via video conference mode a one-kilometre long Road-Over-Bridge across Railway Level Crossing on NH 45-A at Arumparthapuram, Puducherry on Wednesday.
The Road-Over-Bridge worth Rs 35 crore will fulfil long awaited need of Puducherry, especially Villianur, Ariyur, Kandamangalam, Manaveli, Gorimedu, Arovil and Ariyankuppam areas. The event was attended by the Lt. Governor of the UT of Puducherry Dr. Kiran Bedi, Chief Minister V Narayanasamy and Union MoS-RTH Gen (Retd) Dr V K Singh, Ministers from the UT, Members of Parliaments, MLAs and senior officers from the Centre and the State.
Speaking on the occasion, Gadkari said, the project is envisaged to bring relief to public from traffic jam resulting in saving of time and fuel, safe commutation, reduction in pollution, closure of level crossing, and unhindered passage of railway traffic. He said, four-laning of NH-45 shall provide unhindered connectivity of Puducherry with Karaikal port as well as ECR road which is leading upto Kanyakumari.
This will also give impetus to the agriculture and fishing. He said, Rs 70 crore has been spent on NH construction during the last six years in the UT of Puducherry. He informed about the ongoing works in an aggregate length of 287 km for an amount of about Rs 11,000 crore for Tamilnadu – Puducherry Connectivity. These include the Mahabalipuram to Mugaiyur section of NH-332 A, Mugaiyur to Marakkanam Section of NH -332 A, Viluppuram to Puducherry Section of NH -45A, Puducherry to Poondiyankuppam section of NH -45A, Poondiyankuppam to Sattanathapuram section of NH-45A, and Sattanathapuram to Nagapattinam section of NH-45A.
MoS-RTH Gen (Retd) Dr V K Singh said, the Ministry is trying to provide full connectivity of Pudduchery with Tamil Nadu and other regions of the country. The Minister informed that work on strengthening of eight km long road from Madagadipet state border to Ariyur Village at an expenditure of Rs 9 crore is likely to complete by the coming December.
He further informed that DPR preparation is in progress for Marakkanam – Koonimedu Section of NH 332 A & Pudhucherry Bypass, construction of Grade separator at Rajiv Gandhi Square, and construction of Grade separator at Indira Gandhi Square, at a tentative cost of Rs 1354 crore. The Minister said, CRF works worth about Rs 47 crore have been sanctioned in the UT of Puducherry. Additional proposal for Rs 15 crore may be approved if submitted by the UT Government, he added.
Lt. Governor of the UT of Puducherry Dr Kiran Bedi complemented the central government for fulfilling the aspirations of the people of the UT. She cautioned against the cost over-run of delayed projects, as it causes further delay. She proposed conducting refresher courses for road construction engineers, including PWD officers.Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy and Minister for Public Works A. Namassivayam also addressed the event.
