Bihar is now having its elections. The first phase concluded peacefully on November 6th, and the next is scheduled for 11th. As part of these, senior BJP leader and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari promised major upgrades to the state’s roads. He said that Bihar will have big infrastructure projects running soon, and it will have roads like those in America. This is the 10th time since 2021 that we see him make this claim...
The minister was addressing a poll-bound rally in Saran when he made this statement. He said that the government is committed to building modern highways, keeping world-class standards.
“…I promise to build Bihar’s national highways as per world standards, and that day is not far off when I will make Bihar’s roads on par with America’s. This is my promise: I will build the best bridges. There are no obstacles; anything is achievable. I’m not doing you a favour – this is your money. You are the master, and we are the servants. We serve you honestly; that’s why you elected us…" he said, as quoted by ANI.
Gadkari further affirmed that the BJP government’s push for infrastructure development projects will continue and, in fact, be accelerated in the time ahead. Bihar poll results are expected to be out on November 14th.
Gadkari’s urge to draw comparisons with US roads is not new! In November last year, he had pledged to uplift the quality of Bihar roads to match those in the US. He had even given a timeline for this- the ‘next four years’, meaning 2024-2028. Below are the previous speeches/ occasions in which we heard him make the bold claim...
Bihar now has a lot of big-scale infrastructure development projects running. Last year, Gadkari had laid the foundation stones for several such projects, including six National Highway (NH) projects with a combined investment of over 3700 crore rupees. The vision clearly is to realise economic and social development by building world-class roads.
In his speech at the 22nd session of the National Economic Council, the minister said: “It is our promise that in the next four years, we will make the national highway of Bihar like the national highway of America,”
There too, he had made it clear that financial resources are not a constraint in these projects, saying “There is no shortage of money; there is only a shortage of officers and leaders who work honestly. We do what we say - we are not among the leaders who lie.”
Going by what he said in 2024, by the time Prime Minister Narendra Modi completes his third term here, India will have completed infrastructure projects worth Rs 5 lakh crores.
These claims definitely sound promising. Having good-quality highways is something every citizen would be happy about. We can see infrastructure development projects underway in many parts of the country with reassuring progress being made everyday. However, there are factors that still get us, citizens, worried.
Several cases of newly-built highways getting damaged and causing inconvenience to commuters have surfaced from across the country. These stretches were poorly built. Reported issues included potholes, cracks, inadequate drainage, and partial collapses.
As such complaints started piling, Gadkari issued strict warnings to contractors and companies undertaking such construction. We even saw him slap corrupt contractors and companies with hefty fines and other punitive measures.
The swift action underlines the minister’s genuine interest in delivering top-quality roads to the citizens here. We will soon have good highways.