In another major poll gift for Madhya Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi could soon lay the foundation stone of the ‘Atal Progress-way’ or the Chambal Expressway in the state, as reported by News18.
This would be the second such expressway for the state after 244-kilometre-long stretch of the Delhi-Mumbai expressway (DME), which is slated to be operational soon.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on 21 August invited tenders for appointing toll agencies for the seven toll plazas situated along the stretch, indicating that the DME expressway in Madhya Pradesh will be operational soon.
Atal Progressway
The 408.77-km-long Progressway is a four-lane access-controlled highway connecting Kota in Rajasthan to Etawah in Uttar Pradesh via Sheopur, Morena and Bhind districts in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
The proposed project starts from NH-27 in Seemalya Village in Kota district, Rajasthan and ends at Ninawa village in Etawah district in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It also will provide cross connectivity with Golden Quadrilateral’s Delhi-Kolkata corridor, North-South Corridor, East-West Corridor and Delhi-Mumbai -Expressway.
The lion’s share of the greenfield expressway, at nearly 300 km, will pass through Gwalior-Chambal region of Madhya Pradesh.
The NHAI has until now invited bids for expressway of 219 Km length in Madhya Pradesh. These include 60.9 km in Sheopur district (Package III), 50.6 Km in Sheopur and Morena districts (Package IV), 59 Km in Morena district (Package V), and 47.95 Km in Morena district (Package VI).
The tenders for the remaining length of the expressway are under progress and expected to be released in next few months.
Ray of Hope
Gwalior-Chambal region in the state, crisscrossed by Chambal river has been left out in the race for either industrial evolution, or even agricultural revolution that has swept most other areas of the state.
Passing through district of Sheopur, Morena and Bhind, the Atal Progressway will ensure the development of these backward regions of Madhya Pradesh particularly.
“The development of the Chambal region and the welfare of the people is the priority of our government. To ensure Chambal region doesn’t lag in development, Atal Expressway is being constructed from Sheopur, Morena, and Bhind. Approximately, Rs 8000 crore will be spent on this,” said Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The project which is expected to be completed in two years once the work begins, will immensely benefit the people of the region.
Electoral Significance
The Gwalior-Chambal region, which accounts for 16 Assembly seats, is also the ruling BJP’s citadel in Madhya Pradesh. The region is home turf of some of its biggest leaders — including Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, the Morena MP; Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, with Gwalior his family pocket borough; state Home Minister Narottam Mishra, MLA from Datia in Bhind.
This explains why the top political leadership from the state has been aggressively pushing for the Atal Expressway and start of the work on this big-ticket infrastructure project, could be a shot in the arm for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government in the State ahead of the Assembly elections due later this year.
Notably, Madhya Pradesh polls is also one of the five most crucial assembly elections yet to be conducted ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election.