Deputy Chief Minister Shri Vijay Sharma Meets Union Transport Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari

Raipur, March 2026 : Deputy Chief Minister Shri Vijay Sharma met Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, during his visit to Nagpur on Saturday. During the meeting, he urged approval for upgrading the approximately 122-km stretch of National Highway-30 (NH-30) from Dhawaipani (Chilfi) via Kawardha to Simga to four lanes, and for the construction of the Kawardha Bypass (4-lane with paved shoulders). Union Minister Shri Gadkari responded positively and assured early approval and necessary action.

Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma informed the Union Minister that approval has recently been granted to develop the nearly 160-km section of NH-30 from Jabalpur to Mandla and up to Chilfi into a four-lane highway. At present, the road from Chilfi (Dhawaipani) to Kawardha and from Kawardha (Gurunalha) to Simga is a two-lane road with a width of 10 meters. There is heavy movement of commercial and heavy vehicles on the Chilfi–Raipur route. Once the Jabalpur–Mandla–Chilfi section becomes four-lane, traffic pressure on the remaining two-lane sections is likely to increase further. In such a situation, upgrading the entire stretch from Dhawaipani (Chilfi) to Simga (Raipur) to four lanes has become extremely necessary from the perspective of public safety and smooth traffic flow.

Kawardha, the district headquarters of Kabirdham, lies on NH-30 between Jabalpur and Raipur. This inter-state route is highly important from commercial, social, and political viewpoints, with heavy goods vehicles plying daily.

Deputy Chief Minister Sharma also demanded the construction of the Kawardha Bypass (four lanes with paved shoulders) to reduce traffic congestion within Kawardha city and to ensure public safety. He said that the bypass would reduce the likelihood of accidents within the city and enable smoother traffic movement.

Speaking to journalists at Raipur Airport after returning from Nagpur, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma said that orders for four-lane construction from Simga to Raipur and from Dhawaipani to Jabalpur had already been issued, but the Dhawaipani-to-Simga section had remained pending. He therefore requested the Union Minister to develop this important stretch as well, which was accepted immediately, with an assurance of early construction.

Deputy Chief Minister Sharma said, “I wholeheartedly thank Union Road Transport Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari ji for understanding the region’s needs and giving positive consent to upgrade this vital route to four lanes. This will provide the general public with a seamless four-lane corridor from Jabalpur to Raipur.”