We will fulfill our pledge to make India free from fear, hunger, terrorism and corruption: Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari addressed two public meetings at Una and Ani in Himachal today and campaigned for the Bharatiya Janata Party candidates. He said that this election is not about the future of the Congress and the BJP but in the true sense it is an election about the future of the country and its people and the public has to decide which party and which leader can work for your future. The Congress was given the opportunity to run the government for 60 years in the country, they only gave the slogan of Garibi Hatao but did not do any work on the ground. The country has two main sectors agriculture and industry, which cannot function without water, electricity and communication means. There can be no employment without industry. In 60 years, Congress did not do any development in the agriculture sector. 60 percent of the people in India live in villages and the rest live in cities. People migrated to cities because there was unemployment, hunger and lack of basic facilities in the villages. Therefore, the Modi government decided that industries would have to be developed at the rural level in the country, for which the primary task would be to improve water, electricity, roads and communication facilities.

Himachal is a hilly state, so building roads here is a difficult task, but we have done road construction work on a large scale in Himachal. As a minister in Maharashtra, I built the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, due to which former Prime Minister Vajpayee gave me the opportunity to prepare the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Under this scheme, paved roads were built in 4.50 lakh villages out of 6.50 lakh villages in the country. Tourism in Himachal depends on road infrastructure, so we expanded the roads on a large scale. We approved the Lathyani Mandli bridge worth Rs 900 crore in Una, the work on which will begin as soon as the government is formed. Today, tourism has increased in Himachal, the main reason for which is the strengthening of road routes. Now we are reaching Lahaul in just 8 minutes from the Rohtang tunnel. Our government has constructed tunnels worth Rs 20,000 crore. 8 tunnels were constructed from Lahaul to Leh Ladakh. Zojila Tunnel is going to be completed at a cost reduced from Rs 12,000 crore to Rs 55,00 crore, which is going to be Asia’s largest tunnel. After Chhedmor Tunnel, 8 tunnels were constructed from Srinagar to Jammu. Katra to Delhi will be connected to Katra Expressway and via Amritsar, one will reach Delhi in 6 hours.

Delhi to Mumbai Highway worth Rs 1 lakh crore which will complete the journey in 12 hours, Surat to Nashik Green Highway, Nashik to Ahmednagar, Ahmednagar to Solapur, Solapur to Kurnool, Kurnool to Hyderabad Chenai, Bangalore, Kochi, Kanyakumari, Thiruvananthapuram Highway has been completed and the entire country has been connected from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. This is the achievement of our government. 28 ropeway cable car schemes worth Rs. 16,00 crore have been approved in Himachal Pradesh. Work on Bijli Mahadev ropeway will also start soon. Transportation of apples through drones is the creation of our government. During being the Water Resources Minister, amounts of Rs. 6,000 crore were approved for Lakhwar Dam Project on Yamuna River, Rs. 46,00 crore for Renukaji Dam Project and Rs. 11,000 crore for Kishau Dam Project. Through these schemes, Himachal Pradesh will get the benefit of 370 MW of electricity and Himachal’s income will also increase. Along with this, the state will also get 7,000 crore litres of drinking irrigation water.

Our government has tried to improve ropeways, good roads, water, electricity and other facilities, due to which tourists from all over the world are coming to Himachal. Tourism creates employment, due to which the youth of Himachal are moving forward in self-employment. We want to make Himachal prosperous, want to give good roads to Himachal, want to increase the income of the people of Himachal, want to give employment through tourism, this is the commitment of our government. We want to do welfare of villages, poor, labourers, farmers. It is our effort to make the state the main state of the country in tourism. This is not possible without electricity, water, roads and communication and I want to say about this type of development that what Congress could not do in 60 years, we have done it in 10 years. Our agriculture department has made new amendments which are trying to bring quality in seeds and plants so that farmers can earn a good income. Mushroom work has been done in full swing in Himachal, which has created employment opportunities. There are good educational institutions in the state, students are coming here from many countries of the world, be it educational sector, social sector, agriculture sector, service sector. Whatever the area, how development should take place in every area is our endeavor. Our Deen Dayal Upadhyaya described his social, economic thinking as Antyodaya that we will continue to serve the exploited backward poor section of the society who lack food and clothes, the day this section will develop, that day our work will be right.

We are reducing costs with electric cars, scooters, buses. Today our farmer is not only a food provider but has also become an energy provider. In Punjab and Haryana, CNG gas is being produced from stubble. Farmers are helping in producing ethanol. After 10 years, farmers will produce an alternative to petrol and diesel by producing ethanol. Hydrogen-powered vehicles will be an alternative to petrol and diesel in the coming times. Farmers are prospering by producing 76,000 tonnes of bio-aviation fuel. I am not a leader who shows off. I do what I say and I fulfill the announcements I make. We have to change the fate of the country. We have to change the country, we have to change the future. We have to make our motherland the world leader and create an economy of 5 trillion. For this, it is necessary to have a government with the right policies. Under Modi ji’s leadership, our government will complete all these tasks and make the country prosperous. We will fulfill our resolve to make India free from fear, hunger, terrorism and corruption.

While addressing in Ani, he said that the DPR work of Jalori Jot Tunnel, which is going to be a 3 km long tunnel at a cost of 1 thousand crores, has been completed. The DPR of a 3.5 km long tunnel at Kurla between Kullu and Devendranagar at a cost of 600 crores will be completed by December 2024. The construction of Pathankot to Leh Highway is about to be completed and the construction of Kullu to Kangra Highway will be completed soon. A 6.5 km long bypass in Sundarnagar on Kiratpur Manali Highway will also be built in June. We are constructing tunnels by spending about 20 thousand crores rupees.

We are constructing Shingola 7 km, Baralacha La 13 km, Sadhna La Pass 4 km, Talang La Tunnel 14 km, Lachung La 5 km, Fatu La 2 km, Namkila Pass 2 km tunnels in the Himalayas. Bijli Mahadev 2.8 km ropeway, Shikawari to Bhatti ki Dhar 3 km ropeway in Mandi 240 crores, Manali to Hamta Pass, Pimpri 6 km ropeway 464 crores, Manali to Lamba Dukatak ropeway 3 km 216 crores, 11 km ropeway in Manali City 900 crores, Ropeway to Bhakham 2 km 107 crores in Lahaul-Spiti, Ropeway from Barsaini to Khirganga in Manikaran 8 km 650 crores in Kullu, Our government has approved the construction of 1 lakh crore road. We will spend 12 crores on Mandi to Pathankot road. 171 km four lane will be completed by December 2025. 4 lane tunnel will be constructed in Mandi bypass Bijni. Work of 700 meter four lane tunnel in Kotla and 50 meter four lane tunnel in Tilakpur will be completed in June 2024. 4800 crore 74 km four lane route from Mandi Nerchowk to Kullu will be completed by March 2025. 9 tunnels and 140 meter long bridge are being constructed. New bypass for Kullu Manali 1000 crore, Ludhiana to Rupnagar Greenfield Road 5000 crore 128 km four lane, Delhi to Ludhiana and Ludhiana to Rupnagar will directly enter Himachal to Manali and there will be direct connectivity from Ludhiana to Dharamshala Mandi Bilaspur. Work on 82 km four lane from Kiratpur to Nerchowk constructed at a cost of 3000 crore is going to be completed soon. 5 tunnels Mahala, Thappana, Punnu, Malaivar, Bhawana arrival has started. The journey from Chandigarh to Manali has been reduced from 9 to about 5 hours, the distance from Chandigarh to Mandi has been reduced by 50 kms.