Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Friday (10 July) said Gujarat’s approach to securing land for national highway projects holds the potential to become a model for the rest of the country, as he assessed the progress of major road schemes alongside the state government.
An official statement noted that Gadkari commended the state’s handling of land acquisition and observed that the framework could act as a reference for other states pursuing large highway works.
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, present at the review, said close coordination across various departments had helped quicken land acquisition and other groundwork for road projects.
He also pressed the Union minister to fast-track the Palanpur-Samakhiali corridor, an important highway link in north Gujarat.The state government told the minister it had introduced a standard operating procedure to curb land speculation and unlawful real estate dealings along planned road routes.
The meeting went over the status of several ongoing and proposed national highway projects, including the six-laning of NH-48 between Vadodara and Mumbai, the Samakhiali-Maliya section of the Morbi-Samakhiali road, the Rajkot-Gondal-Jetpur highway, the Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway, the Ahmedabad-Godhra-Indore road, the Jamnagar-Amritsar Expressway, the Palanpur-Samakhiali corridor and the Ahmedabad-Shamlaji six-lane project.
Gadkari also announced that work to stretch the Ahmedabad-Dholera Expressway up to Bhavnagar would start within three months. He instructed the Gujarat government to quickly file proposals under the Central Road Infrastructure Fund with the Union ministry for speedier clearance.
Stressing sustainable development, the minister said trees hit by highway expansion should be shifted to suitable spots along the same corridor wherever possible.
