5 days Ago By PTI
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said pollution levels in Delhi are so high that staying in the city for three days can lead to infections. Informing that Delhi and Mumbai are in the red zone due to pollution levels, Gadkari said a lot of work needs to be done in the coming period with regards to air and water pollution. "In Delhi, pollution is very high.
If you stay in Delhi for three days, you will get some infection. As per a medical conclusion, Delhi pollution is reducing the average life of a citizen by 10 years," Gadkari said at an event here.He asserted that addressing environmental concerns is critical to national development alongside infrastructure growth.
"Ethics, economy, ecology and environment are important for Indian society but we have not taken the environment issue seriously," he rued.The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways said road development is a key strategy to address pollution and reduce logistics costs."We import nearly Rs 22 lakh crore worth of fossil fuel.
Petrol and diesel are major contributors to pollution. Traffic jams need to be solved. There is need for change in fuel used in vehicles.
I am supporting alternative fuels like a crusader. I want to save on the Rs 22 lakh crore worth of fossil fuel imports and put Rs 10-12 lakh crore into the pockets of farmers," he said.Gadkari said India's aim of becoming a $5 trillion economy would require world-class infrastructure across water, power, transport, and communication and asserted the government is working to reduce logistics costs, which currently stand at 14-16%.
"China's logistic cost is 8%, US and EU 12%, but we have 14-16%. We want to bring it down to single digit. By January next year, logistics cost would come down to 9% from 16%," he said.
Talking about major infrastructure projects, he said a direct road will connect to Pune bypass from JNPT near the Atal Setu."It will be three times wider than the existing Mumbai-Pune expressway. From there, it will be connected further to Pune-Bengaluru national highway, bringing Mumbai-Bengaluru travel time to just five hours.
The work has commenced," he said."Mumbai-Delhi travel time has also reduced significantly. Mumbai to Delhi roadway duration is nearly 48 hours, but now Nariman Point to Delhi has almost come down to 12 hours.
The road construction is nearly complete. Some patches in Maharashtra are still pending," he said.Similarly, the new road between Bengaluru and Chennai will reduce travel time from seven hours to two hours and will be operational in the next three months, he added.
The union minister said road works costing Rs 1 lakh crore are ongoing in Delhi, with an additional Rs 50,000 crore projects proposed. Centre Planning Rs 10-Lakh-Crore Investment To Strengthen Highways: Nitin Gadkari. Read more on Nation by NDTV Profit.
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