Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday dismissed claims of retirement from politics. The senior BJP leader made this statement citing a media report. Speaking to the media in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri, the senior BJP leader said, “I have no intention of retiring from politics. Media should maintain responsible journalism in its reporting on this matter.” On this occasion, Gadkari also announced three new projects worth Rs 15,000 crore.
Earlier on Thursday, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari also conducted an aerial inspection of the construction work of the Mumbai-Goa Highway. Maharashtra Industries Minister Uday Samant was also present on the occasion, said a press release issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Union Minister Gadkari said that the much-awaited construction work of Mumbai-Goa National Highway No. 66 will be completed by December 2023 and the road will open for traffic in January 2024.
He further said that the Mumbai-Goa highway has been divided into 10 packages. Out of these, work on two packages (P-9, P-10) in Sindhudurg district is almost 99 per cent complete, said an official release. There are total five packages in Ratnagiri district and work on two packages (P-4, P-8) is 92% and 98% completed respectively. Remaining work is in progress. The minister informed that the delayed works of two packages (P-6, P-7) have been resumed by appointing a new contractor.
No intention to retire from politics
On this occasion, Nitin Gadkari rejected all those claims and said that he has no intention of retiring from politics. Citing a media report, he made a statement that the media should understand the responsibility in this matter.
Problems in Goa-Mumbai NH
The Road Transport and Highways Minister further said that work on the Mumbai-Goa National Highway has been delayed due to land acquisition and environmental clearance for the Panvel-Indapur phase. He said that now all these hurdles have been removed and the issue of environment is being taken care of by removing the flyover in the Karnala Sanctuary area.
The minister informed that the construction work of Mumbai-Goa National Highway in Goa has been completed. The Mumbai-Goa National Highway is the highway connecting the major tourist destinations of Konkan. This will give a boost to tourism development. The minister said that having a road connecting major industrial areas would also give a boost to industrial development.
Three new projects worth 15 thousand crores
Gadkari also announced three new projects worth Rs 15,000 crore. These include the Rs 1,200-crore Kalamboli Junction project, the Rs 1,200-crore Pagode Junction Chowk to Greenfield Highway project and the Rs 13,000-crore Morbe-Karanjde highway that will connect Delhi through JNPA. Work on these projects will start soon.
On Thursday morning, Gadkari laid the foundation stone of three national highway projects worth Rs 414.68 crore and 63,900 km at Palaspe village in Raigad district. These projects will boost economic mobility at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority and the twin ports of Dighi, while the concretization of the Panvel to Kasu Highway will speed up travel and save fuel.
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