Highway length rose by 3,000 kms in Andhra since 2014: Gadkari
New Delhi, July 14 : The length of national highways have increased by almost 3,000 km in Andhra Pradesh since the BJP government came to power in the Centre, said Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday.
The length of national highways in the state before May 2014 was 4,193 km which has now increased to 7,118 km and that the government was planning to spend a further Rs one lakh crore for development of highways in Andhra Pradesh, he said, after laying the foundation stones for several projects in the state and also inaugurating some national highway and port connectivity projects in Vishakhapatnam, according to an official statement.
"Since 2014, 15 projects having a length of 902 kms amounting to Rs 5,309 crore have been completed. Further, 37 projects are ongoing with a total length of 1,643 kms with total project cost of Rs 15,700 crore. Another 97 works of total project cost of Rs 27,436 crore have been awarded," he said.
Gadkari added that fishery was also very important for the state of Andhra Pradesh and gave assurance that the government would focus on developing fishing harbours and fish processing and packaging centres in the state.
He said that 108 projects worth more than 1.35 lakh lakh crore under the government's flagship Sagarmala project were under various stages of implementation in the state.
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Bengal: Over 55 pc turnout till 1 pm in repoll in 15 booths of 2 assembly seats
Kolkata (PTI): Over 55 per cent turnout was recorded till 1 pm in repoll in 15 booths of two assembly constituencies in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district on Saturday, an official said.
Voting was underway more or less peacefully at 11 polling stations of Magrahat Paschim assembly constituency and four in Diamond Harbour, where the EC ordered repoll a day ago, following reports of electoral malpractices.
However, at booth number 179 at Chanda Primary School of Diamond Harbour seat, the Trinamool Congress alleged that a specially abled voter and his mother were harassed by central forces. The alleged incident sparked protests by party workers and locals.
The TMC claimed that the voter's mother, who had entered the booth to assist him, and her son were detained for a considerable time by central forces over alleged rule violations.
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"TMC leaders Manmohini Biswas and Pratik Ur Rahman reached the spot and led the protests, with residents terming the action unwarranted harassment. The matter has been taken care of by our officials there," an official of the poll body said.
Polling was otherwise peaceful across 15 booths in the area, he added.
Voting began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, the official said, adding that till 1 pm, the turnout was 55.57 per cent.
Magrahat Paschim registered 56.33 per cent voter turnout, while in Diamond Harbour, it was 54.9 per cent, a poll official stated.
Voting in these two assembly constituencies was held in the second phase of the state elections on April 29.
The repoll order was based on reports received from returning officers and observers of the two constituencies and "material circumstances", the Election Commission official said.
In Magrahat Paschim, TMC's Md Samim Ahamed Molla is pitted against BJP nominee Goursundar Ghosh, while Abdul Majid Halder of the Congress and ISF candidate Abdul Aziz Al Hassan are also in the fray.
TMC candidate Panna Lal Halder is contesting against Dipak Kumar Halder of the BJP in the Diamond Harbour seat. Goutam Bhattacharya of the Congress and CPI(M)'s Samar Naiya are among other candidates.
The BJP had alleged rampant electoral malpractices in certain polling stations of both the assembly seats under the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency, which is represented by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
The EC had deputed its special observer, Subrata Gupta, to fact-check the allegations from the ground.
The poll panel will decide on repolling in the Falta assembly constituency on Saturday.
The West Bengal assembly elections were held in two phases -- April 23 and April 29 -- amid unprecedented security arrangements.
Counting of votes will take place on May 4.
