Work on Bihar-Jharkhand stretch of N H 2 to be expedited

New Delhi, Mar 8 (UNI) The work on the National Highway No 2 of the Golden Quadrilateral passing through Bihar and Jharkhand will be expedited.

Giving this assurance to Members in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister for Surface Transport TR Balu said there were some problems on the stretch passing through the states, but all efforts were on to complete the project as soon as possible.

Earlier, while asking supplementaries, the Members expressed great concern over the poor condition of the Paradeep-Badbil road stretch of the National Highway No Two.

They said the road which was used for transporting coal and mineral from Orissa to all parts of the country had deteriorated and become inadequate to bear the traffic.

The Minister said the Government had already decided to have six lane highway on all the Golden Quadrilateral routes, and 6500 km of roads had already been identified for the purpose.

Replying to the main question which was about Uttar Pradesh, the Minister said that 97 estimates for upgradation, development and improvement of National Highways amounting to Rs 251 crore had been received in the Ministry against the Annual Plan 2006-2007 outlay of Rs 180 crore for the state.

UNI