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INFRASTRUCTURE MoRTH plans to develop a total of 22 Greenfield Expressways, 23
BIG PROGRESS UNDER PM GATI SHAKTI NATIONAL
MASTER PLAN! 22 EXPRESSWAYS, 23 KEY INFRA
PROJECTS, 35 MMLPS & MORE

other major infrastructure projects and other highway projects and
also 35 Multi-Modal Logistics Parks (MMLPs), as part of the Ministry’s
Bharatmala Pariyojana as well as other schemes.
The Road Transport and Highways Ministry had made significant
progress under the Modi government’s “PM Gati Shakti National
Master Plan”, aimed at improving multi-modal connectivity as well
as last mile connectivity across India. As part of the PM Gati Shakti
NMP, MoRTH plans to develop a total of 22 Greenfield Expressways,
23 other major infrastructure projects and other highway projects
and also 35 Multi-Modal Logistics Parks (MMLPs), as part of the road (in Arunachal Pradesh), a major bridge over Middle Strait
Ministry’s Bharatmala Pariyojana as well as other schemes. Creek (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), 6-lane bridge over Ganga
According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, “Gati bridge at Phaphamau (Uttar Pradesh) and 4-lane bridge over
Shakti” is a digital platform, which will bring 16 ministries, including Brahmaputra between Dhubri-Phulbari (in the state of Meghalaya).
roadways and railways together, for integrated planning as well Under the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase I, MoRTH through its
as coordinated implementation of infra connectivity projects for implementing agencies NHAI, NHLML and NHIDCL, has kept pace
industrial cluster and economic nodes. with the work of implementing the 35 MMLP projects identified
Some of the major Corridors and Expressways, which are under for development. The Multi-Modal Logistics Park at Jogighopa,
the stage of construction are Delhi – Mumbai Expressway, Delhi – Assam, which is being developed in partnership with the state
Amritsar – Katra Expressway, Ahmedabad – Dholera Expressway, government of Assam as equity stakeholder in the project SPV, is
Bengaluru – Chennai Expressway, Amritsar – Bhatinda – Jamnagar already under construction. Apart from this, bids for three MMLPs
Expressway, Raipur – VZG Expressway, Ambala – Kotputli have been invited- MMLP Nagpur, which is being developed in
Expressway, Hyderabad – VZG Expressway, UER II, Chennai – Salem partnership with JNPT at Sindi Village; MMLP Chennai, which is
Expressway as well as Chittor – Thatchur Expressway. According being developed at Mappedu in partnership with Chennai Port
to the ministry, some of the major key infra projects, which are Trust as well as the government of Tamil Nadu through its industrial
under the construction stage include the development of Zojila body SIPCOT; MMLP Bengaluru, which is being developed in
Tunnel (Ladakh), roads to connect Krishnapatnam Port (in the partnership with Karnataka Government, through its infra body
state of Andhra Pradesh), 2-laning of Lalpul-Manmao changing Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB).

MANALI’S ATAL TUNNEL OFFICIALLY TERMED AS WORLD’S the achievement of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). The
LONGEST HIGHWAY TUNNEL ABOVE 10,000 FEET tunnel, built by the BRO, connects Lahaul-Spiti Valley with Manali.
Atal Tunnel, Manali: The World Book of Records has officially On October 3, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated
certified Atal Tunnel as the longest highway tunnel above 10,000 the tunnel, dedicating it to the nation. Spanning across a length
feet in the world. The ceremony for this was held in Delhi on of 9.02 km, the Atal Tunnel is strategically important and it runs
Wednesday, and the achievement was announced by the Union under the Rohtang Pass. It was built on the Manali – Leh Highway
Ministry of Defence. The award of ‘World’s Longest Highway Tunnel and the construction took place in freezing temperatures and very
above 10,000 Feet’ was received by Border Roads Organisation difficult terrain, making the task highly daunting for the BRO. Now,
Director General Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhry, in an honour marking the tunnel has been authentically certified as the longest one at
such an altitude by the UK-based World of Records.
The tunnel is significant because before its construction, the
highway remained shut for a period of six months due to snowfall
and winter. This caused Spiti and Lahaul to be completely isolated
from the Indian mainland during the winter months. While the
tunnel connected these two areas with India more effectively,
it also reduced the distance on the Manali – Sarchu road by 46
km, due to which the travel time went down by four or five hours.
With this, an all-weather connectivity has been provided on the
Manali-Leh axis, the ministry said.
The construction of the tunnel itself was a challenging task that
put to test technical and engineering skills, due to it having been
built in harsh and challenging physical features. Not only that
but during the construction work, the temperatures went down
to a whopping -25 degrees during winters. Meanwhile, inside the
tunnel, the temperatures also soared to close to 45 degrees.

54 CONSTRUCTION OPPORTUNITIES|MARCH 2022