Tamil Nadu is the new Rome : News on June 20,2008
Source:
www.indianexpress.com/story/325534.html
New Delhi, June 20: By the time Minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways T R Baalu ends his innings at the Centre, he would have upgraded 99.6 per cent of the National Highways (NHs) in his home state Tamil Nadu even though the pending Golden Quadrilateral lingers on and the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP) is behind schedule.
After ensuring Tamil Nadu had the maximum length covered under NHDP III amongst all states, the ministry is now planning more of the same with NHDP IV.
Under Phase A, 5,480 km of single-lane NHs across the country are to be two-laned: over 1,232 km of these will be in Tamil Nadu.
NHDP IV A is set for Cabinet approval next week.
Till NHDP III was cleared last year, 72 per cent of Tamil Nadu’s NHs were covered under NHDP, leading the statewise tally. With NHDP IV set to be approved, 4,446 of the 4,462-km-long NH network in the state will be upgraded, leaving just 16 km of NHs in Tamil Nadu without the minister’s bounty. No other state has over 3,200 km covered under NHDP and only three have up to 2,500 km, even if they have longer NH networks than Tamil Nadu.
Neighbouring Karnataka will get just 400 odd km double laned NHs, Himachal Pradesh 54 km, Rajasthan 71 km and a slightly better placed Uttar Pradesh will get 876 km under the NHDP IV A plan. However, still no state can boast of a higher NHDP coverage than Tamil Nadu.
Against its 96 per cent NHDP coverage, MP has 32 per cent, UP 55 per cent, Andhra Pradesh 64 per cent, Chhattisgarh a mere 9.5 per cent, Rajasthan 41 per cent and Gujarat 62 per cent.
While ministry officials deny any state bias, the figures speak for themselves. From amongst the 44 projects planned under NHDP IV, 12 states have NHs up for widening.
However, nine of the 44 stretches are in Tamil Nadu measuring 1,067 km while Madhya Pradesh has seven measuring some 650 km. BJP-ruled Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat have one stretch each under NHDP IV.