In what could prove to a key poll year gift for Madhya Pradesh, the Centre has over the last fortnight invited bids for building the ‘Atal Progressway’ in nearly the entire stretch of Madhya Pradesh. Work could begin soon this year.
The ‘Atal Progressway’ or the Chambal Expressway, a four-lane 404-km long Greenfield highway, will pass through the Gwalior-Chambal region of Madhya Pradesh while connecting Kota in Rajasthan to Etawah in Uttar Pradesh. The lion’s share of the 404-km long expressway, at nearly 310 km, will pass through Madhya Pradesh. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has now invited bids to build the expressway in various packages in almost the entire stretch of MP state.
The Gwalior-Chambal region had contributed handsomely to the formation of the Congress government under Kamal Nath in 2018. The Congress had earlier never won more than 18-20 seats in this region, but swept it in the previous polls and won 26 of the 34 seats here. Jyotiraditya Scindia, the leader from this region, joined the BJP later and brought down the Kamal Nath government in MP.
Over the past two years, Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Scindia and Gwalior MP and Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar have pushed for this project with the Road and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. Besides this expressway, the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will also be passing nearly 200 km in Madhya Pradesh and will criss-cross the Chambal Expressway. The Madhya Pradesh section of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is nearly complete.
THE Chambal Expressway
The project is expected to be completed in two years once the work starts. Passing through backward regions of Gwalior-Chambal like Morena and Sheopur in Madhya Pradesh, the expressway is expected to immensely benefit the people of the region. It will also provide an alternate route from Kanpur to Kota through Madhya Pradesh. It is expected to further help the tribals of the region.
The Chambal area is remote and said to be the most underdeveloped region in the nation, once known for dacoits and utter lawlessness. But farmers here would be able to send their goods to marketplaces in Delhi and Mumbai once the expressway is operational. It would also help the industrial department of Chambal area, the Madhya Pradesh government feels.
This high-speed road corridor will contribute to development of areas located near it with establishment of logistics parks, industrial units, agriculture production centres and food processing facilities, among others, the Centre earlier said.
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