Govt to spend Rs 5 lakh cr on waterways: Gadkari
3 April 2015 4:20 AM IST
Gadkari added that the bill for developing 101 river stretches as waterways would be passed in the Parliament session this month, and that the work on developing the 1,620 km-long waterway between Varanasi and Haldia has begun.
“I am not showing any dream to you. I am among those leaders who have completed work on what they said. There is no shortage of funds for this. When I was minister (in Maharashtra), Itook Rs 10 crore from government and raised Rs 4,000 crore from the public and completed Rs 8,500 crore work in two-and-half-years.
“I would like to assure you on this basis that in the next 10 years, we will carry out Rs 5 lakh crore works on these waterways and give a new direction to the country,” Gadkari said at the foundation ceremony for a road project in Khammam.
The minister added works on four other waterways would take off after a study by international consultancies. “We gave the legislative status in Parliament to five waterways that were already there. One (among them) is Ganga. We are developing the waterway between Varanasi and Haldia that is of 1,620 kms. Men and materials would start moving on water there in two years,” he said.
“I would like to tell you that we are soon going to start work on four other waterways of Mahanadi,
Brahmaputra, Buckingham Canal and in Kerala after getting them studied by international consultancies,” he said.
Godavari, which flows in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, would be among the 101 rivers that would be developed as waterways, Gadkari said.
“I am not showing any dream to you. I am among those leaders who have completed work on what they said. There is no shortage of funds for this. When I was minister (in Maharashtra), Itook Rs 10 crore from government and raised Rs 4,000 crore from the public and completed Rs 8,500 crore work in two-and-half-years.
“I would like to assure you on this basis that in the next 10 years, we will carry out Rs 5 lakh crore works on these waterways and give a new direction to the country,” Gadkari said at the foundation ceremony for a road project in Khammam.
The minister added works on four other waterways would take off after a study by international consultancies. “We gave the legislative status in Parliament to five waterways that were already there. One (among them) is Ganga. We are developing the waterway between Varanasi and Haldia that is of 1,620 kms. Men and materials would start moving on water there in two years,” he said.
“I would like to tell you that we are soon going to start work on four other waterways of Mahanadi,
Brahmaputra, Buckingham Canal and in Kerala after getting them studied by international consultancies,” he said.
Godavari, which flows in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, would be among the 101 rivers that would be developed as waterways, Gadkari said.
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