Govt to declare 7, 200 km of state roads as national highways

12feb2014

Times of India

 NEW DELHI: Just days before announcement of poll dates, the government is set to declare about 7,200 km of roads in approximately 132 districts as national highways. Though the highway ministry for the first time has fixed the framework for notifying such roads than providing scope for politicians to influence decisions, the move is seen as a last minute attempt by UPA-2 to improve its tally so far as bringing more roads under the NH network is concerned.

In the past four-and-a-half years, about 10,000 km of state highways were added to the NH network and the fresh addition will take UPA-2's tally to over 17,000 km under this umbrella. During NDA rule, 23,814 km was notified as NHs.

Sources said the proposal cleared by highway minister Oscar Fernandes will be placed before the Cabinet in the next two weeks. "The objective is to ensure that all districts are connected with NHs. About 132 districts across the country covering almost all big states don't have NH connectivity. So, there is a clear formula which all roads will be declared as NHs. For the first time we are taking politics out of such exercise," said a highway ministry official.

He added that all notified roads will be made at least of two-and-a-half lanes. About 2,000 km of this will cover border roads including Manali to Leh stretch with the objective of building wider roads in areas closer to border areas.

Sources said that barring some states like Goa, some districts in almost all states were still not connected with NHs. One of the biggest beneficiaries will be Madhya Pradesh, where about 500 km will be brought under this network. Even in Andhra Pradesh, two districts -- Khammam and Karim Nagar - are not linked with NH.

Once this exercise is completed, the total NH network in the country will touch nearly 90,000 km.

However, what has surprised many is that the government is pushing such proposals knowing it well how the government is struggling to provide better roads due to lack of adequate fund for their maintenance. As soon as the state roads are notified as NHs, the local governments stop sanctioning and releasing fund for their maintenance or upgradation since these responsibilities shift to the Centre.                Nagesh Dubey   PGDM 2nd sem