The Golden Quadrilateral Highway does not pass through which of the following cities? 1. Bhubaneshwar 2. Jaipur 3. Lucknow 4. Indore Select the answer using the code given below:
- (a)1 and 2
- (b)1 and 3
- (c)2 and 3
- (d)3 and 4
Correct — D, 3 and 4. The Golden Quadrilateral is a 5,846-kilometre four-lane and six-lane circuit joining Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, built as the first phase of the National Highways Development Project. Its four legs are worth learning as routes rather than as endpoints. Delhi to Kolkata goes down the Ganga plain by Mathura, Agra, Kanpur, Prayagraj and Varanasi, then through Dhanbad, Asansol and Durgapur; Lucknow lies about a hundred kilometres north of that alignment and is reached by a spur, not by the quadrilateral itself. Delhi to Mumbai crosses Rajasthan and Gujarat by Jaipur, Ajmer, Udaipur, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat; Indore is far to the east of that line, up on the Malwa Plateau. Kolkata to Chennai hugs the east coast through Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam, so Bhubaneswar is on it. Chennai to Mumbai runs inland by Bengaluru and Pune. Jaipur and Bhubaneswar are therefore both on the route, and the two cities the Golden Quadrilateral does not touch are Lucknow and Indore.
- (a)1 and 2 — Names the two cities that are on it. Bhubaneswar sits on the coastal Kolkata to Chennai leg and Jaipur on the Delhi to Mumbai leg, both of them squarely on the alignment.
- (b)1 and 3 — Right about Lucknow and wrong about Bhubaneswar. The eastern leg follows the coast from Kolkata through Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam to Chennai, which is the shortest sensible line between those two metros.
- (c)2 and 3 — Right about Lucknow and wrong about Jaipur. The Delhi to Mumbai leg has run through Jaipur since the project began; it is the first major city on the way out of Delhi.
The National Highways Development Project was launched in 1998 and run by the National Highways Authority of India. Its first phase was the Golden Quadrilateral, 5,846 kilometres of four-lane and six-lane highway joining the four metropolitan cities. The second phase built the North-South corridor from Srinagar to Kanniyakumari, 4,076 kilometres including the Cochin to Salem spur, and the East-West corridor from Silchar in Assam to Porbandar in Gujarat, 3,640 kilometres. Bharatmala Pariyojana, announced later, adds economic corridors, ring roads and bypasses on top of that skeleton.
The reliable way to answer a Golden Quadrilateral question is to picture the four legs as the shortest workable lines between four corner cities, and then ask whether the city in question lies on such a line. Lucknow and Indore are both large, well-known capitals of a kind that feel as though they must be on any national grid, and both are off the direct route by a hundred kilometres or more. Lucknow is served instead by the North-South corridor and by its own expressways; Indore sits on the plateau east of the Delhi to Mumbai axis. A second check is to run down the coast. The Kolkata to Chennai leg is a coastal highway, so Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam are on it and inland cities are not. As of the present day the four legs carry renumbered national highways — Delhi to Kolkata is NH-19, Kolkata to Chennai is NH-16, and the Delhi to Mumbai and Mumbai to Chennai legs are both parts of NH-48 — so a route learnt by the old NH-2, NH-5, NH-8 and NH-4 numbers needs updating.
- The Golden Quadrilateral is 5,846 kilometres of four-lane and six-lane highway connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.
- Delhi to Kolkata runs by Mathura, Agra, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Dhanbad, Asansol and Durgapur — Lucknow is not on it.
- Delhi to Mumbai runs by Jaipur, Ajmer, Udaipur, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat — Indore is not on it.
- The North-South corridor links Srinagar to Kanniyakumari over 4,076 kilometres, and the East-West corridor links Silchar to Porbandar over 3,640 kilometres.
- Kolkata to Chennai is the longest of the four legs, and today carries the number NH-16 along the east coast.
Bhubaneswar and Jaipur are on the circuit; Lucknow and Indore are the two it misses.
- Assuming every state capital on the way is on the route. Lucknow and Indore are both missed by a wide margin.
- Using the old highway numbers. NH-2, NH-5, NH-8 and NH-4 have become NH-19, NH-16 and NH-48.
- Confusing the East-West corridor with the Golden Quadrilateral. The corridor runs Silchar to Porbandar and belongs to a later phase.
As a which-city-is-or-is-not-on-it item, as a question on the length of the network or of its longest leg, or as a statement item mixing the Golden Quadrilateral with the two corridors.
Which one of the following sections of the Golden Quadrilateral Highway in India is the longest in terms of route distance ?
- (a) Delhi – Kolkata
- (b) Kolkata – Chennai
- (c) Chennai – Mumbai
- (d) Mumbai – Delhi
Answer(b) Kolkata – Chennai
The same four legs, ranked by length instead of by the cities on them. Knowing that the eastern leg is the longest and that it follows the coast through Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam settles both questions at once.
Which one among the following statements about National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is not correct?
- (a) NHAI collects fees on the National Highway.
- (b) NHAI conducts training of Highway Engineers at entry level and in-service.
- (c) NHAI provides consultancy and construction services in India and abroad.
- (d) NHAI regulates and controls the plying of vehicles for its proper management.
Answer(b) NHAI conducts training of Highway Engineers at entry level and in-service.
The body that built the quadrilateral, tested on what it does. NHAI develops, maintains and manages national highways and levies tolls on them; training highway engineers is the business of a separate institute, which is the distinction that item turns on.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The East-West corridor of the National Highways Development Project connects
- (a)Silchar and Porbandar
- (b)Srinagar and Kanniyakumari
- (c)Dibrugarh and Surat
- (d)Kolkata and Mumbai
Answer(a) Silchar and Porbandar — a 3,640-kilometre route; Srinagar to Kanniyakumari is the North-South corridor.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The total length of the Golden Quadrilateral is approximately
- (a)3,640 km
- (b)4,076 km
- (c)5,846 km
- (d)7,200 km
Answer(c) 5,846 km — the four-lane and six-lane circuit joining Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.