By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, OCT 03, 2022: NETWORK Planning Group (NPG) constituted under the institutional framework of 'PM GatiShakti' has recommended three important road connectivity projects. These are Construction of Four Lane Highway from Gazipur - Ballia - UP/Bihar State Border, Improvement and Up-gradation of Existing Road from 2-Lane to 4-lane in Uttar Pradesh and Moradabad & Kashipur bypasses in UP, Uttarakhand.

All 3 projects are important for the improvement and upgradation of the roadways with a view of multimodality, easier commute, and land acquisition.

As a part of the proposal in the 33rd Meeting of the NPG, 3 critical agendas were discussed and recommendations were made as follows:

I. Construction of Four Lane Highway from Gazipur - Ballia - UP/Bihar State Border

 For better freight flow, and interstate multimodal connectivity in Uttar Pradesh. The proposal was for a  4-lane highway (in greenfield) to connect the economic centers for (Lucknow, Varanasi, Azamgarh, and Mau cities). This will ensure shortest connectivity from south Bihar to Delhi. At Buxer a bridge on river Ganga is being constructed with spur which will enhance connectivity of South Bihar to Delhi The project will reduce travel time between Lucknow - Patna by 3.5 Km/hr for seamless traffic, and interstate connectivity. The highway will serve the Lucknow defense corridor at two points (Banaras and Pruvanchal expressway).

II. Improvement and Up-gradation of Existing Road from 2-Lane to 4-lane in Uttar Pradesh

The proposal was to make 2 lane roads into 4 lanes for upgradation and improvement of the Roads. The proposal is for 4 - a lane bypass Palia - Shahjahanpur - Hardoi - Lucknow. This project is a part of strategic border roads of Indo - Nepal border road project (INBRP) of Ministry of Home Affairs providing connectivity to Indo - Nepal border and facilitating SSB mobility. It will also ensure connectivity to Bardoi National Park. It will also enhance the freight flow and traffic movement.

III. Moradabad & Kashipur bypasses in UP, Uttarakhand.

The proposal was for a 4-lane Bypass Project (brownfield) for decongestion, and to reduce travel time. The project provides interstate connectivity between Uttar Pradesh- Uttarakhand -bypass connecting major economic centers of the region. It serves as a trade route for  India - Bangladesh, and India- Bhutan - Bangladesh. It will provide connectivity to Jim Corbett National Park.

The members of the Network Planning Group have further suggested certain components of integrated planning and synchronized implementation concepts and have ensured faster clearance and support for the projects. Through PM GatiShakti NMP, it shall be possible to implement these projects in the coming years.

NPG has the head of Planning Divisions of the infrastructure Ministries including, the Ministry of railways, MoRTH, Power, MoPNG, DoT, MoCA, MoPSW, Transport department, Ministry of Ports, Waterways, PwD, PSU, PMT, DS SM & PPP  with a special representative from NITI Aayog and MoEF&CC. Logistics Division, DPIIT functions as the secretariat of PM GatiShakti