CENTRE SANCTIONS FUNDS FOR NHAI ROADS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited UP chief secretary Deepak Singhal to Delhi after the latter impressed the PM with his knowledge of roads built and maintained by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The PM’s praise for Singhal came during his weekly videoconferencing with state chief secretaries on Wednesday. Soon after the video conferencing, the centre reportedly sanctioned `154.74 crore for maintenance of three of the NHAI roads that Singhal had mentioned.

LUCKNOW: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited UP chief secretary Deepak Singhal to Delhi after the latter impressed the PM with his knowledge of roads built and maintained by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

The PM’s praise for Singhal came during his weekly videoconferencing with state chief secretaries on Wednesday. “Aap hamare afsaron dwara banai gayi sadkon ke barey main up to date jankaari rakhte hain (your knowledge about roads built by our officers is quite up to date),” the PM said when Singhal raised the issue of five poorly maintained NHAI roads.

Soon after the video conferencing, the centre reportedly sanctioned `154.74 crore for maintenance of three of the NHAI roads that Singhal had mentioned. These roads include Aligarh-Kanpur NH 91 for which `120 crore have been sanctioned, Varanasi-Sultanpur NH 56 (`17.97 crore) and VaranasiGhaghra bridge NH 233 (`16.77 crore).