Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has written to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari seeking expeditious approval for the revised alignment of the proposed Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway.

Facts :

• The Union government had proposed the expressway as greenfield project to connect the important religious cities of Amritsar in Punjab and Katra in Jammu and Kashmir with the national capital.
• The expressway is proposed to connect various important economic and religious centres in Punjab, including Dera Baba Nanak, Attari Border, Qadian, Tarn Taran, Gandiwind, Goindwal Sahib, Makhu, Ludhiana, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Muktsar Sahib, Malerkotla, Talwandi Sabo, Moonak and Patiala.
• This project would not only reduce distance between Katra and Delhi from existing 727 km to 572 km but would also serve as a new corridor of development in Haryana.
• The Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry has given in-principle approval for construction of a new expressway between Delhi-Amritsar-Katra via Jind, passing through Haryana and Delhi-Jaipur via Pataudi, an extension of national highway number 8 in June 2016.
• In December 2017, NHAI appointed a consultant to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) within 10 months by Oct 2018. Land acquisition started soon after that as agriculture land is already being marked.
• Earlier in September 2018, both the chief ministers of Punjab as well as Haryana in a meeting with Gadkari at Delhi had discussed the proposed alignment of the expressway as it would pass through both the states.
• Later, Amarinder pointed out that alignment of the expressway had been finalised in consultation with Punjab and Haryana and the new alignment option proposed to be adopted would start from Amritsar and go straight up to Delhi Western Peripheral (DWP) Expressway or Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway in Delhi.
• The matter was taken up by Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh with Union minister for road transport Nitin Gadkari. He also sought approval for four important roads in border area and a few other roads of the state.
• Seeking the upgradation, strengthening and development of missing links in Sri Hargobindpur-Batala-Fatehgarh Churian-Ajnala-Chogawan-Atari road in the border area of Punjab, CM said that this 97.18km road stretch was very important for defence forces as it provides alternate routes for movement of the Army in the area.
• Punjab has also submitted a Rs 425.62 crore project for upgradation of 557km road lengths of border districts of Ferozepur, Fazilka, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and Pathankot.
• The state has also sought announcement of interstate roads Banga-Garhshankar-Anandpur Sahib-Naina Devi road and Fatehabad-Ratia-Budladha and Mandi on NH148 B as national highways during the current financial year as DPR for them had already been submitted.
• CM Punjab, has urged the Centre to expeditiously approve the project as it would lead to improved connectivity and foster greater socio-economic development of the region.

Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway :

• Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway is a proposed, 600-kilometre-long (370 mi) controlled-access expressway, which will connect Delhi with Katra in Jammu & Kashmir via Amritsar, Moga, Sangrur in Punjab.
• It will be constructed as part of the Bharatmala project. The project is expected to cost Rs 60,000 crore. M/s Feedback Infra have been appointed as DPR consultants to carry out alignment studies.
• This greenfield expressway will reduce the current Delhi-Katra distance from 727 km to 572 km, allowing commuters to cover this distance within 5 to 6 hours. It will have trauma centre, amublance, firebridga,e traffic police, bus bays, stuck stops, interchanges with freshment and recreational facilities.
• The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of the NDA government planned to construct 10 expressways in the country under Bharatmala pariyojana, one of which would connect the national capital Delhi with Katra via Kharkhoda, Jind, Moga, Amritsar and expressway will merge into Western Peripheral Expressway near Kharkhoda in Sonipat district .