Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje was in Kota along with road, transport and highway minister Nitin Gadkari, to lay the foundation stone of three projects - Northern Bypass on Chambal river, Kota-Darra National Highway-12 and Nanta Road. The cost of Northern Bypass on Chambal river alone is said to be Rs 621 crore.
"I got a state with frayed infrastructure, which the previous government had not improved during their tenure," said chief minister Vasundhara Raje. "Today, after a tenure of roughly 18 months, Rajasthan stands at number one in skill development and construction of toilets under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Meanwhile, World Bank has put Rajasthan at sixth position for ease of quick business.
Nitin Gadkari promised to finish a route of 250 km from Etawah, Baran, Raipur to Ujjain in the next two years at a cost of over Rs 102 crore. This will facilitate travel for people going on pilgrimages to Ujjain. Another route of 112 kms, which will be developed from Kota, Jalore to Juna, Bundi Bypass and Northern Bypass II, has been cleared.
“In the last one-and-a-half years, my government has stressed on building a large network of roads as condition of the National Highway was not good. Each year about three lakh people were reported injured with 1.5 lakh deaths reported as a result of accidents. We believe that the development of the country is linked with roads, from the current stretch of 96,000 km of NH we plan will increase the stretch to 1,50,000 km,” Gadkari added.
He further said that Rajasthan is an important state and so here too, the stretch of National Highways will be increased by about 6,000 km. A sum of Rs 40,000 crore is likely to be spent on the same in the state.
“Today, the idea is to link all villages with good roads and investing Rs 40,000 crore in the same is sure to bring about a massive change, both in terms of the progress of the state as well as providing employment opportunities,” said Gadkari.
He also named a few roads that will be upgraded to NH status, which will connect Kota to other cities. “Hyundai has suffered a loss of about Rs 350 crore, and we will give them new work. I also have dreams of starting seaplanes on the rivers of Rajasthan,” he added.
He said that to materialise his dream, Indra Gandhi Canal and Chambal river will be used to land seaplanes.