BALASORE: Union Minister of State for MSME and Balasore MP Pratap Sarangi has sought widening of the 120 km stretch of NH-60 from Balasore to Kharagpur to ensure development of Eastern region of the country. Sarangi met Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari at New Delhi and submitted a memorandum in this regard on Tuesday.
He said the four-laning of NH-60 from Balasore to Kharagpur in West Bengal, earlier a State Highway, eased traffic flow between Bhubaneswar and Kolkata. A proposal for six-laning of the highway, floated in 2012, was dropped due to inadequate traffic on the stretch. However, the situation changed in last nine years and the flow of traffic on the highway has gone up considerably.
Though the 135 km stretch of NH-16 between Kharagpur and Kolkata has six lanes, NH-60 still has four lanes which often results in traffic congestion and mishaps. Sarangi urged Gadkari to consider the proposal to widen the road in the interest of people of Eastern India.