Nitin Gadkari

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was present at the event.

Nitin Gadkari said that a notification in this regard will be issued in the next three days. Gadkari's comment came two days after industrialist and former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry and his friend Jahangir Pandole were killed when their Mercedes car hit a road divider in Maharashtra's Palghar district. Mistry was reportedly not wearing a seat belt. The minister said that the highest number of people dying in road accidents in India belong to the 18-34 age group. On the sidelines of an event on Monday, Gadkari had said that people think that passengers sitting on the rear seat don't need to waer seat belts. 

Union Minister for Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Monday said that he has a goal of establishing a road network in India at par with America by 2024. Speaking here after laying the foundation stones for five national highways, he stated that every development activity depended on road connectivity and realizing this, the government is committed to strengthening the road network in the country.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari seems to have lost weight, but that hasn't stopped him from creating new records in highway construction in the country. There was a time not very long ago when critics had scoffed at the needless grandeur and pomp displayed by the late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he launched the Golden Quadrilateral project to link the four biggest cities of India with spanking new highways.

Gadkari further said that this is the beginning of a new era of smart and green highways in India. He also said that the groundbreaking ceremony of this new proposed expressway link will be held in the coming 10-12 days in the presence of Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath. Delhi and Lucknow are currently connected via the Yamuna or Taj Expressway. At present the travel time between the two cities is over 7 hours.