Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Nov 5: Close on the heels of Kathua, now Udhampur has also been allotted a “Highway Village”, as per the new and latest concept developed by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
Disclosing this here today after a briefing by the newly appointed Chairman of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) Sanjeev Ranjan, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh expressed satisfaction that, as per this new initiative, to begin with, over 60 such Highway Villages / Haats are being developed across the country, out of which, two happen to be in Udhampur-Kathua Lok Sabha constituency.
While the already announced Highway Village in Kathua will be located on NH-44, close to Kali Bari precisely around village Logate, the proposed Highway Village for Udhampur will be located at Km 2.0 of Udhampur Bypass NH-44 at a point coinciding with Village Lota.
Dr Jitendra Singh further informed that in Kathua, three hectare of land had already been handed over to the NHAI and the tender for the work is expected to be floated by this month end.
For Udhampur also, he said, 4.445 hectare of land has been identified and handed over to the Highway Authorities for further perusal.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the two “Highway Villages” in Kathua and Udhampur respectively, are scheduled to be completed within a timeline of around 18 months, which means that these should be ready, in every form, by around the middle of 2020.
Pertinent to mention that Highway Village / Haat is a new concept by NHAI, wherein these stop-over destinations will have diverse facilities like petrol pump, food points, ATM / Bank, Car Parking and workshop, Medical Store and First Aid, Internet / WiFi, recreation park, etc. This would, thus, result in creating attractive Highway stop-overs and tourist points. In addition, this will also promote job avenues for the youth.
Dr Jitendra Singh was also briefed about the current status of work on the National Highway from Udhampur to Ramban and Ramban to Banihal, which is likely to complete by December 2020. After completion, the distance between Jammu and Srinagar, which is currently around 291 kms, will get reduced to 229 kms and the feasible driving speed on the road will increase from the current 40-50 kms per hour to over 60-70 kms per hour.
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