Monday, September 12, 2022
By Kamal Swami
Gadkari's Vision: Develop lakes While Highways Construction
According to the Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari, his ministry can cater to the water crisis in the country. Addressing the two-day event on ‘Ideas to Action - Towards A Smart Sustainable Road Infra, Mobility and Logistics Ecosystem’ expressed these thoughts. The event is being attended by the minister and officials from the states and centre. To control the wastage of water and to conserve the water for the future, the Ministry of Rural Development launched the “Mission Amrit Sarovar” on April 24, 2022. It was a part of the “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” celebration.
The main objective of Mission Amrit Sarvor is to develop and reconstruct 75 sources of water conservation in every district of the country. Expressing his thoughts the honourable Minister said, there is no dearth of water, the problem lies in managing the water-related issues. Explaining the process of building highways, he said there is a need for soil to construct new highways and therefore the process of obtaining the soil should create the new water bodies. In his words,” This will not only fulfil the road construction requirement but also provide new lakes in rural areas, which will eventually increase the groundwater table”.
Illustrating an example of a project initiated by the National Highways Authority of India, Gadkari said, this helped a university in getting 36 lakes whereas the villages of its surrounding areas got 22 wells. He added that such creative ideas are not only beneficial for the surrounding areas but also help in minimizing the cost of operations. The honourable minister also urged the ministers and the officials of the state and central governments to control the costs of projects.
Currently, NHAI is working on multiple projects including the construction of the highway from Delhi to Mumbai. According to the minister 70 per cent of this project is almost completed. Writing a report published last month, the minister stated that he dreams to let the people from the Nariman Point of Mumbai reach Delhi in just 12 hours through roadways. At present, it takes long hours to reach Delhi from Mumbai by road.
