Pics: Joshwa D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (JS)

Mangaluru, Mar 28: Union minister for road transport and highways and shipping Nitin Gadkari on Monday March 28 symbolically inaugurated the Baikampady overbridge, in a ceremony held at NMPT conference hall in Panambur here.

He also symbolically inaugurated the overbridge near BC Road on NH 75 and workd widening and construction of rigid pavement on Shiradi Ghat (km 237 to 250.620), and symbolically laid foundations for widening Hassan-Marnahalli stretch of NH 75 and Addahole-BC Road section and stregthening and construction of rigid pavement on Shiradi Ghat (km 216 to 237) on the same occasion. The new projects entail an investment of Rs 2,358 crore.

Addressing the gathering, Gadkari said, "Two sectors are very important for development - agriculture and industry. In industry, water, power and transport are very imporant, and the industrial sector is essential in order to create employment. Only by generating employment can poverty can be eradicated.

"About 5 lac accidents take place every year, resulting in 1.5 lac deaths. Hence the road transport ministry has taken the conscious decision to increase the national highway from 96,000 km to 2 lac km. Today, I am proud to say that already the length of our national highways has increased to 1.55 lac km. The important target today for us is how we can save the lives of the people and how we can stop accidents, and that is the reason we have increased the highway length.

"By increasing the length of national highways by 2 lac km, about 80 percent of the traffic would be on highways. There was a policy decision in the ministry to convert two lanes into four lanes. It required 25,000 passenger car unit (PCU) of traffic, but now we have changed the requirement to 10,000 PCUs, hence they can and will be made four-lanes. We have also taken a decision to contruct all roads with cement concrete, and in this regard, we have already booked 95 lac tonnes of cement at a cost of Rs 130-140 per bag, and additional tax and transport charges. These concrete roads will last for at least 50 years," he said.

Regarding works under his ministry in Karnataka, he said, "I have already promised the Karnataka chief minister and the people of Karnataka that in these five years we will invest Rs one lac crore on road construction in Karnataka. Presently Karnataka has 7,000 km of national highways. We have approved additional 3,290 km of road length, and I am committed to give another 4,000 km. I am not making false promises. Resources are not a problem, but lack of vision and innovation is most important.

Three new highways

"MP Nalin Kumar has requested me to grant three national highways - Karkala-Moodbidri-BC Road of 44 km at a cost of Rs 220 crore, BC Road-Kaikamba-Kateel-Mulky of 51 km at a cost of Rs 255 crore, and four-laning of Thokkottu-Mudipu-Melkar at Rs 755 crore, which may go up Rs 1,000 crore. I declare all three as national highways and I promise to hand over the official letter in this regard to the MP when he comes to Delhi," Gadkari said.

Connectivity from Mangaluru port to Chennai port through Shiradi Ghat

"Shiradi Ghat project is very important to us. We have started developing a small stretch of the 23 km road and the minister has promised that he would submit the report before June. We are undertaking construction of six underground tunnels and seven bridges from Mangaluru port to Chennai port through Shiradi Ghat. In this, the largest tunnel would be 2.9 km. This project is very important for the development for Mangaluru region. If I get the project report by June, then the work will be started by December this year. We will try to complete the project in two years. Road connectivity is very important to ports, hence by this project we can increase port activity in Mangaluru," Gadkari said.

"I am happy that all 12 major ports in India and three flagship organizations, viz Cochin port, Shipping Corporation of India, Basin Corporation of India have earned a profit of more than Rs 6,000 crore this year. Hence money is not the problem, the problem is the system which is not working fast enough. I am expecting Rs 10,000 crore as profit next year," he added.

"We want to construct a port of international standards and at the same time we are going to develop three major ports - in Kolachil of Tamil Nadu, Sagar in West Bengal, and Vaghwan on Mumbai-Gujarat border. We plan to start these works this year.

Fish industry

"For the developement fish industry, we have to first improve the infrastructure. We need good roadways and good waterways. When the cost of logistis is less, then automatically the total cost will decrease. Earlier, permission for fishing in more than 12 nautical miles had to be taken from the ministry but most of the fishermen could not get the permission as they did not have boats of that capacity. So we are coming up with a scheme for these fishermen so that fishing activity will be more when they cross 12 nautical miles. This way there will be more yield of fish and fish products to export," Gadkari said.

He also informed that a world conference would be held in Mumbai on April 14 and 15 where the Prime Minister, VIPs, ministers and people from 80 countries will participate. The conference is being held with an aim to adopt new technology especially from other countries, he said.

Union law minister Sadananda Gowda said, "I have come here to congratulate Gadkari on giving us such projects. Ever since Gadkari took charge as the highway minister two years ago, a new era has started. About Rs 55,000 crore has been kept aside for construction of highways in this year's budget. As Mangaluru is the only major port available in our state, I request the minister to create sea connectivity between Mumbai and Mangaluru which would be cheaper than roadway. I thank Gadkari and PWD minster for giving these projects to this region."

PWD minister Dr H C Mahadevappa said, "These were very important projects for us. There is a healthy competition for development in Karnataka which is necessary for growth. When Oscar Fernandes was minister for road transport and highways, he personally visited Shiradi Ghat and got this project initiated. In order to solve the problem in Shiradi Ghat, he took the decision to concrete 23 km stretch of the ghat. Infrastructure is very important for increasing connectivity between the districts, state and nation. Prior to 2013, Karnataka had 4,416 km of national highways, but after Oscar Fernandes became the minister, about 2,000 km of state highway was upgraded to national highway, and now after Gadkari took charge, another 3,000 km has been upgraded to national highway.

"When we requested Gadkari for connectivity between Mangaluru port and Chennai port, he agreed and a project costing Rs 8,000 crore has been sanctioned which includes a tunnel through Shiradi Ghat. I am thankful to Gadkari for having sanctioned such projects for Karnataka," he added.

MP of Dakshina Kannada, Nalin Kumar Kateel said, "The Shiradi Ghat project was sanctioned by the then minister Oscar Fernandes. Thereafter, under the leadership of Nitin Gadkari, certain amount was kept aside and the project was initiated. I congratulate the chief minister, the PWD minister and Nitin Gadkari on completing these projects."

MLA Mohiuddin Bava, former district in-charge minister Nagraj Shetty, MLC M A Gopalswamy and others were present.

Udupi

Pics: Umesh Marpalli
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (HB)
With Inputs from Media Release

Udupi, Mar 28: "Knowledge is very important. The need of the hour for the country is leadership and management, and not money and technology," said union minister for road transport and highways and shipping Nitin Gadkari.

Delivering TAPMI's 22nd Leadership Lecture on the topic 'Education for development' at Manipal University here on Monday, Gadkari said, "Leadership is about working collectively with people and maintaining good relationships.

"The problem lies not with the system but with the vision of leadership. Vision, with the help of knowledge, can lead to miracles. Conversion of this knowledge to wealth is our future. Fast track decision making, transparency, commitment and courage to take risks are quintessential in these times," he added.

He shared his experiences as a minister and cited various inspiring stories along the way. He spoke of how the government sanctioned him only Rs 10 crore to build the Mumbai-Pune Express Highway and the manner in which he was able to raise Rs 4,000 crores from the capital market for the same back in 1997-98. He also spoke of how he managed to aid contractors to construct flyovers using only Rs 1,000 crore in spite of having a budget of Rs 1,800 crore. "The flyover work was given to Indian contractors and the project was done on a low budget in a highly efficient manner," he said.

He also spoke of how he could convince ISRO scientists, to carry out research on lithium ion batteries, for buses, to get a price tag of Rs five lac, whereas he had received a quotation of Rs 50 lac from other sources.

"We are already working on five river transport projects, including one with Bangladesh. There is tremendous opportunity to improve our economic system.

He spoke of how favourable government policies can encourage in improving quality and help in converting waste to wealth. To end with, he said, "Where there is a will there is a way. If there is no will, there is only survey, seminars and discussions."

Dr R C Natarajan, director of TAPMI and Dr Ramdas Pai, chairman of TAPMI governing council and chancellor of Manipal University were also present at the event.