adchiroli will soon shed its insurgency tag and emerge as India’s steel hub with the state govt hammering out an ambitious plan to lay a highway linking the district to Vizag and Kakinada ports in Andhra Pradesh, said Union Road transport and highways minister, Nitin Gadkari on Friday. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis while reiterating the setting up an airport at Gadchiroli also shared a plan of building riverine connectivity with the Kakinada port.
Gadchiroli was the focal point of discussion by the twin political stalwarts at the Advantage Vidarbha Khasdar Audyogik Mahotsav, a brainchild of Gadkari.
“There was a time when children in Gadchiroli would consume red ants, instead of salt. Now they are undergoing skill development training,” said Gadkari. The minister said he has already built roads of Rs 40,000 crore in the district and this includes concrete roads. The road passing through Gadchiroli will navigate Raipur in neighbouring Chhattisgarh and go further to Vizag, extending to the port city of Kakinada, said Gadkari.
Fadnavis said land acquisition will soon begin for the airport, where even big aircraft can land. “A study has been initiated to build a river link from Gadchiroli to the port at Kakinada. Wainganga river, which traverses through the Maoist-hit region, merges with the Godavari and goes into the sea. I recently discussed the idea with the chief ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh during the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos, and both agreed,” he said.
Continuing his announcement blitzkrieg, the chief minister said, Nagpur will soon have a plant with a capacity to make 10,000 electric buses. This will lead to a demand for 10,000 drivers too. “Boeing is expected to start work on converting passenger planes to transport jets at its Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) depot in Nagpur. It’s hoped that soon the Nagpur airport will have flights linking every city in the world,” said Gadkari.
