Whenever there is talk of a big highway or expressway in the country, it does not mean just a road, it means how much time will be saved, how fast will the business be and how will the areas passing near the expressway develop? With this thinking in mind, the Central Government has started a big and ambitious project. Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway. This expressway will not only quickly connect Delhi with Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, but it is also being considered a big game-changer for religious tourism and local employment.
The biggest feature of this project is that it will reduce the pressure on those routes where currently there is a lot of traffic, jam and travel time. Now! Delhi to Amritsar It takes about 8 hours to go. At the same time, the journey from Delhi to Katra (Gateway of Vaishno Devi) sometimes stretches for 14 hours. After the completion of the new expressway, it is claimed that the journey from Delhi to Amritsar can be completed in just 4 hours and from Delhi to Katra in about 6 hours. This means that in less than half the time, people will be able to easily travel from one state to another and also for pilgrimage.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of this project on 24 April 2022. This project is being built under the Bharatmala project, whose objective is to strengthen the major highway corridors of the country and improve logistics.
The first phase of Delhi-Katra Expressway i.e. the Haryana portion is now operational. This part is about 135 kilometers. Its commissioning means that people have now started seeing the benefits of the expressway facility on the ground. The Haryana stretch passes through many districts and areas, which has improved the connectivity of these areas. Especially in the towns and rural areas where direct fast road facilities were less earlier, now the speed of commuting has increased and in future activities like industries, dhabas, truck stops and service areas will also be expected to increase in the surrounding areas.
Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway is 670 kilometers long. It connects three big regions, Delhi, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. Its route has been designed in such a way that it passes through many cities, but being an expressway, the journey can be completed without any interruption. It has been told that this expressway will start from Jasaur Khedi near Bahadurgarh border of Delhi and will further pass through the areas of Punjab and reach Amritsar, and the other part will go up to Katra in Jammu and Kashmir.
The biggest advantage of this project is the reduction in travel time and distance. It takes about 8 hours to reach Amritsar from Delhi. After the construction of the expressway, this time may reduce to 4 hours. Similarly, it takes about 14 hours to reach Katra from Delhi. After the construction of the expressway, this time may come down to 6 hours. The distance from Delhi to Amritsar via this route is said to be approximately 405 km. The distance from Delhi to Katra will be approximately 670 km, whereas currently it was around 727 km.
This expressway is not only being considered as a transport project, but it can also bring a big change for religious tourism. Every year lakhs of people from Delhi and surrounding states visit Amritsar and Vaishno Devi. But the journey becomes difficult due to long distances, traffic and fatigue. The new expressway will provide better connectivity to many major religious places. Amritsar, Vaishno Devi (Katra) and some other religious places of Punjab like Sultanpur Lodhi, Goindwal Sahib, Khadur Sahib, Tarn Taran etc.
Vaishno Devi is one of the major pilgrimage sites for Hindus. Katra is considered the gateway for this. It is said that the journey from Delhi to Katra through the expressway will be possible in about 6 hours. This can increase the number of pilgrims and there is a possibility of increase in hotels, taxis, shops, local services and employment in Katra and surrounding areas.
It is not only important to drive fast on the expressway, the safety and convenience of the passengers is equally important. Therefore, many facilities have been mentioned in this project, so that the highway travel is comfortable and safe. Plans have been made to provide arrangements like refreshment facilities, trauma centre, ambulance, fire brigade, traffic police support, bus bay and truck stop on the expressway. The biggest advantage of these facilities will be that if any emergency occurs during a long journey, help can be provided quickly.
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This project is of very big budget. The estimated cost for this is said to be around ₹ 38,905 crore. This includes road construction as well as land acquisition and other important works. Such a big budget also shows that this is not just an ordinary highway, but a large-scale national infrastructure corridor. This expressway is being built by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
It is being prepared in two phases and a total of 20 packages have been mentioned.
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