Union government has approved the construction of 69 national highways (NHs) in Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said here today.
The state government has also got the nod to prepare the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of 58 national highways out of the 69 NHs, he said.
Presiding over a meeting of senior state officers and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) here today, the Chief Minister directed them to expedite the process of preparing DPRs for all these national highways.
Presently the state has national highways of 2653 kilometers and it will increase to 6965 km after construction of the newly announced NHs, he added.
Thakur said that these NHs on completion would also help in providing alternate routes to neighbouring states of Haryana, Punjab, Uttrakhand and Delhi for transportation of apple and other produces.
The proposed Rohru-Chirgoan-Tikkari-Larot-Chanshal-Dodra-Kwar national highway will not only provide alternative link to Haridwar and Chardham religious places in Uttrakhand but will also give boost to tourism development in the state, he said.
Expressing displeasure over the delay four laning work of Kiratpur-Ner Chowk Highway, the Chief Minister said that work should be expedited by deploying additional men and machinery on this road since it has a heavy flow of traffic.