Amarinder seeks Gadkari’s nod for revised Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway alignment

Ravi S. Singh
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 5

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

Also, he has sought direction from Union Textile Minister Smirti Zubin Irani to the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to resume procurement of cotton from the state as per the established practice.

In a letter to Gadkari,  Amarinder urged the ministry to consider state’s plans in  the matter with regard the expressway. The state had approved the alignment option starting from Amritsar and going straight up to International Airport here, along with only one spur connecting the important religious place of Dera Baba Nanak.

Following a meeting with Gadkari in July last year, the state government had submitted a comprehensive proposal regarding alignment of proposed Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on January 20, this year.

The proposal was for an alignment option starting from Amritsar and going straight up to  International Airport ( Delhi), along with spurs connecting various important religious and economic centres such as Dera Baba Nank, Qadian, Attari Border, Gandiwind, Tarn Taran, Goindwal Sahib, Makhu, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Malerkotla, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, Patiala, Moonka, etc.

The new alignment proposal approved by the state government is, however, limited to only one spur. 
Also, in a letter to Textile Minister, Amarinder expressed concerns that the CCI had not started the procurement of cotton through commission agents, as has been established practice for the past may years even though he had earlier taken the matter with the Ministry. The procurement should have begun on this October 1 this year.