In rare case, stretch of road gets into Limca Book of Records!
Asphalting of 25 Kms long lane between Bijapur-Solapur NH gets done in 18 hours
BIJAPUR: It is not often that infrastructure development projects get their names recorded in the Record Books, as achievements of the individuals normally find a place in these instead.
Contrary to this, a particular stretch of road being developed by the National Highway Authority of India is getting this opportunity. A stretch of 25 kilometres long lane being developed between Bijapur and Solapur by NHAI is getting ready to make it to the Limca Book of Records for asphalting a large stretch of road in the record time of eighteen hours.
In the presence of officials of Limca Book of Records – the NHAI took-up the asphalting work in five different stretches between Bijapur-Solapur national highways on Thursday. Among five stretches three are in Karnataka – Dhulked, Horati Tanda, and Tidagundi, and the remaining two are in Maharashtra.
On seeking conditions of anonymity, an official from NHAI said that, “Initially, they had planned to blacktop 20-lane-km in 12 hours but it was later extended for another 5.5-lane-km, which took another six hours to complete. In total 25.54 km of road asphalting work has been carried out in 18 hours. It is not done end-to-end but they have done it in five different places at the same time.”
“This is the quickest asphalting work done so far in the nation. We have done all the work in the presence of officials of Limca Book of Records. They have documented and verified every aspect required to get a place in the record book. The highway development work is being carried out by IGM Company,” added an official from NHAI.
The news broke out when Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari applauded the efforts of the workers, who sweated out to reach the goal on time, of NHAI.
In a tweet, he said, “The NHAI and Contract Company have successfully blacktopped 25.54-lane-km within 18 hours, which is a remarkable achievement, in the ongoing widening of the Bijapur-Solapur NH-218. This quick work will be added to the Limca Book of Records. As many as 500 workers of the contract company have sweated-out to achieve this feat. I congratulate workers and the project director of NHAI, other officials, representatives of the company,” appreciated Gadkari.
He also guaranteed completion of the ongoing highway works between Bijapur-Solapur by October 2021. The Department of Road Transport and National Highways launched the up-gradation of NH-218 between Bijapur-Solapur to four-lane from the existing two-lane in 2018.
Praising the work of NHAI, Deputy Chief Minister Govind Karjol, said that, “This fete will definitely set a benchmark in the ongoing and upcoming projects. I congratulate the entire team on completing the 25.54-km lane asphalting in 18 hours. The work was launched when Ramesh Jigajinagi was the union minister of states,” PWD Minister Karjol expressed.
The works were carried out by the NHAI, Project Director Sanjay Kadam, IGM director Venkatesh Rao, and IGM team leader Siddanagouda K.
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Kerala CM Vijayan urges PM Modi to withdraw FCRA amendment provisions
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has expressed concerns over certain provisions in the proposed FCRA Bill and sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to withdraw them.
In a letter to Modi, Vijayan said the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 25, has sparked concern among various sections of society, particularly minority communities.
A copy of the letter, sent on Sunday, was shared on his Facebook page on Monday.
In the letter, Vijayan noted that a perusal of the bill’s clauses indicates that powers have been granted to authorities to take over assets even for technical omissions.
“The apprehension is that granting such sweeping powers to authorities could lead to arbitrary exercise, and such concerns cannot be dismissed as baseless,” he said.
The chief minister pointed out that the existing law already provides sufficient powers to deal with misuse by entities permitted to receive foreign contributions.
He further said the amendment proposes enabling the takeover of assets, including places of worship and charitable organisations, even in cases involving technical issues such as violations of time limits.
Vijayan warned that the provisions could adversely affect institutions engaged in selfless service in areas such as education, healthcare, and the welfare of the poor and marginalised, even in the absence of significant lapses.
Stating that the issue has triggered concerns among religious groups and minority communities, the CM urged the prime minister to intervene in the matter at the earliest.
He also urged the PM to take steps to withdraw the provisions related to the takeover of assets in the amendment bill, noting that the existing Act has adequate safeguards to address violations.
The chief minister wrote to Modi at a time when reports about the proposed provisions in the FCRA Bill had triggered widespread reactions among political parties and various church denominations in poll-bound Kerala.
