Widen All State, District Roads To At Least 2 Lane: UP PWD Minister Jitin Prasada

| Updated: 23 April, 2022 3:01 pm IST
UP Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Jitin Prasada. (file photo)

LUCKNOW: In a major infrastructure push that is expected to ease transportation and movement, Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Jitin Prasada on Friday instructed senior officials to prepare an action plan to widen all state and district roads to at least two lanes in the next five years.

In a review meeting attended by Minister of State For PWD, Brijesh Singh, principal secretary, and other senior officials of the department, Prasada said all pontoon bridges in Uttar Pradesh should be converted into concrete bridges in a phase-wise manner on a priority basis.

The minister further instructed officials to prepare proposals for the construction of bypasses in major towns and other places where vehicular traffic is heavy.

“The stretch connecting two national highways should be surveyed and a proposal should be sent to the government of India for declaring these stretches as national highways,” Prasada said.

He also instructed for completion of under-construction block headquarters and welcome gates on interstate roads in the current financial year.

“MoUs should be signed with the Railways for construction of Rail Over Bridge (ROB) on railway crossing having more than one lakh TVU (train vehicle units),” he instructed. TVU is an arithmetical calculation based on the number of vehicles passing through a railway crossing per day.

In 2020, the Ministry of Railways proposed to replace level crossings in the country with ROBs on a cost-sharing basis with state governments, if the TVU of the crossing is more than one lakh.

In further instructions to engineers of his department, Prasada said, “A target-oriented action plan under an effective monitoring system should be prepared to complete most of the pending projects by January 2024.”

He further asked the officials to carry out anti-encroachment drives to free the portion of roads occupied by people. “The plan should be prepared in such a manner that an almost equal amount can be sanctioned in each district,” he said.

Minister Prasada further instructed the officials concerned to submit a detailed proposal for the construction of the “India-Nepal Friendship Gate” on the Nepal border.

Also Read Story

Start investigating with opposition-ruled states, but put Adani in jail: Rahul Gandhi

LOP Rahul Gandhi accuses PM Modi of shielding Adani amid US bribery charges

Maharashtra records low voter turnout amid heated polling day drama  

Zoya Akhtar, Kangana Ranaut, Subhash Ghai, and more Shine at Maharashtra Polls 2024