Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari inspected the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra greenfield expressway and Amritsar bypass during his stay in Punjab on Thursday (19 October).
The Punjab public works department Minister, Harbhajan Singh and Member of Parliament from Amritsar, Gurjit Singh Aujla were also present during the inspection.
Five greenfield and economic corridors are being built in Punjab at a cost of Rs 29,000 crore. The 669 km Delhi-Amritsar-Katra greenfield expressway is being built at a cost of Rs 40,000 crore.
With its construction, one can reach Amritsar from Delhi in four hours and Katra from Delhi, in six hours. Presently, the distance from Delhi to Katra is 727 km, with the construction of this route the distance will be reduced by 58 km.
Starting from the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal expressway in Delhi, this expressway is being built for 137 km in Haryana. The length of this expressway in Punjab is 399 km, of which work on 296 km has started.
The length of the expressway in Jammu and Kashmir is 135 km, of which work is going on in 120 km. In Punjab, this expressway will pass through industrial areas like Patiala, Sangrur, Malerkotla, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Gurudaspur.
A major feature of this corridor is the inclusion of Asia’s longest 1,300-m-long cable-stayed bridge over the Beas River.
This expressway will connect the major religious places of the Sikh community, the Golden Temple, Sultanpur Lodhi Gurdwara in Kapurthala district, Goindwal Sahib Gurdwara, Khandur Sahib Gurdwara, Gurdwara Darbar Sahib (Tarn Taran) till Mata Darbar Vaishno Devi in Katra.
The work of the 50 km, four-lane Amritsar bypass being built at a cost of Rs 1,475 crore is in progress. With its construction, there will be better connectivity from Tarn Taran to Amritsar Airport.
This bypass aims to effectively solve the traffic problems of Amritsar. This route is expected to improve the connectivity, transportation and infrastructure of Amritsar.