Bengal hands over seven crucial highway stretches to NHAI and NHIDCL

The Government of West Bengal has officially accorded in-principle approval to hand over seven major national highway stretches from the state Public Works Department (PWD) to central infrastructure bodies. This decision transfers the maintenance and development control over to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL). 

Due to the absence of a formal handover, all planned development, expansion, and essential maintenance works on these seven strategic corridors had been completely stalled. With the Chief Secretary issuing the clearance, both NHAI and NHIDCL can now move forward with their engineering plans without any further bureaucratic delays.

According to the official communique, the NHAI will take over three stretches, including the extensive 329.6 km NH-312 running through Jangipur, Omarpur, Krishnagar, Bongaon, and Basirhat, alongside stretches of NH-31 and NH-33 connecting the Bihar-West Bengal border. Meanwhile, NHIDCL will take administrative control of four stretches, including the tourist and defense-heavy NH-10 connecting Kalimpong to the Sikkim border, the hill corridor of NH-110 up to Darjeeling, and border connectivity highways like New NH-317A and New NH-717.

Cumulatively, these seven corridors are designed to significantly upgrade the connectivity grid across North and South Bengal. The overhauls will improve the Bihar-Bengal transport corridors through Malda and Murshidabad, strengthen the road spine leading directly up to the Indo-Bangladesh border at Ghojadanga, and smoothen transit lines into the Darjeeling hills, the Dooars, Sikkim, Bhutan, and Bangladesh.