Kolkata, Sep 3 (IANS) Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday announced approval for a Rs 2,077-crore project to widen a crucial highway connecting Bagdogra in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district with Galgalia in neighbouring Bihar’s Kishanganj district.
The project involves four-laning of the 31.02-km Bagdogra-Panitanki-Kharibari-Galgalia section of NH-327. Gadkari said the project has been approved at a cost of Rs 2,077.18 crore.
“In West Bengal, we have approved Rs 2,077.18 crore for the four-laning of the 31.02-km Bagdogra-Panitanki-Kharibari-Galgalia section of NH-327 in Darjeeling district,” Gadkari said in a social media post.
The project will include three major bridges, one road over bridge, five elephant underpasses and service roads on both sides. According to the Union minister, these facilities will improve connectivity and ensure safer movement of both people and wildlife along the corridor.
The highway passes through the strategically important Siliguri Corridor, popularly known as the Chicken’s Neck, which provides the principal land link between the northeastern states and the rest of India. Gadkari said the project would strengthen connectivity to the Northeast and improve access towards Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
The proposed four-laning is also expected to ease traffic congestion in Bagdogra, Naxalbari, Kharibari and Panitanki, while improving connectivity to Bagdogra Airport and other important regional centres.
The project is expected to facilitate faster transportation of agricultural, horticultural and tea products from North Bengal to larger markets, potentially benefiting local producers and businesses.
The announcement comes amid the West Bengal government’s focus on strengthening infrastructure in North Bengal since the Bharatiya Janata Party government led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari assumed office in May this year.
Adhikari has repeatedly said that improving connectivity and infrastructure in North Bengal is among his priorities. He has maintained that the region remained neglected under previous Left Front and Trinamool Congress governments and requires greater attention.
The Chief Minister has also emphasised the need for infrastructure development to support industrial growth in North Bengal, with particular focus on the “Triple-T” sectors of tea, timber and tourism.
–IANS
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