Separate agency for roads, bridges

VADODARA, Feb 3: The government has decided to form Gujarat Roads Development Corporation, a separate agency, to exclusively undertake wo...

VADODARA, Feb 3: The government has decided to form Gujarat Roads Development Corporation, a separate agency, to exclusively undertake works involving construction and maintenance of roads and bridges throughout the State.

State R&B Chief Engineer D K Bhalala told newspersons on Tuesday that the corporation had recently decided to undertake the construction of an overbridge on the Chhani underbridge which was getting waterlogged during the monsoons.

He said that the corporation would seek co-operation from major industries around Vadodara district in the context and ask them to get together or form another agency to construct the overbridge on the build-operate and transfer (BOT) basis. “The overbridge would cost about Rs 16 crore,” he said, adding that concrete efforts in the context would begin in a couple of weeks.

He said that the State government had also constructed an overbridge on the railway crossing near GNFC, Bharuch at a cost of Rs six crores which was likely to be inaugurated soon. According to him, the corporation would also undertake an elaborate work of converting the Vadodara-Haalol road into four-lane which would cost about Rs 175 crore. Stating that the work was also about to be started, he specified that it was being constructed on the build-operate and transfer basis.