Gujarat government has started preliminary work on a peripheral road project that will be running along its borders with other states and its coastline, as reported by Times of India.
The 3,533-km project known as the ‘Parikrama Path project’ is estimated to cost Rs 2,000 crore and will fill in missing linkages between national and state highways along the state’s borders.
“Parikrama Path has been planned in a way that by using existing national highways and state highways, and by constructing additional roads and bridges, a large ring road will be set up. Under this scheme, 40 per cent of the distance involved is national highways, 33 per cent state highways and 27 per cent is other roads and missing links,” a draft of the project states.
“The missing linkages will be added in a phased manner. We expect to complete the project in two years. Once completed, it will cover important growth centres and help boost connectivity and accessibility,” noted the report.
Three Corridors
According to the project blueprint, the mega-ring road will be divided into three different corridors.
The first corridor, also called the eastern corridor, will link the eastern belt roads with the Statue of Unity – Saputara link road and pass through various cities like Modasa, Dahod, and Vapi.
The second corridor will stretch across South Gujarat coastline through Saurashtra and Kutch and will pass through cities such as Valsad, Bharuch, Dholera, Una, Somnath, Porbandar, Dwarka and Jamnagar.
The last corridor will run along the international border in Kutch bringing the northern periphery of the state. The 310-km international border divides the Kutch region of Gujarat and the Sindh province of Pakistan.
Significance
Besides linking important tourist and pilgrimage centres, the project will also enable seamless connectivity for traffic coming from the neighbouring states. It will also add value to the state’s logistics network as the coastline is dotted by several ports.
At about 1,214 km, Gujarat on the west coast has the longest coastline amongst the Indian states. Covering 16 coastal districts, the coastline has huge diversity of marine based ecosystems and development opportunities.
Further, the road network will mainstream the tribal areas on the eastern side of the state. As per the 2011 census, tribal population in Gujarat was 89.17 lakh, around 15 per cent of its total population. The members of the community are largely spread across 14 eastern districts of the state. The tribal population is concentrated in 48 talukas.