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
Correct — B, Kolkata to Chennai. That arm runs about 1,684 km, the longest of the four sides of the Golden Quadrilateral, whose total length is about 5,846 km. The other three are shorter: Delhi to Kolkata about 1,453 km, Mumbai to Delhi about 1,419 km and Chennai to Mumbai about 1,290 km. The east-coast arm is longest because it swings down through Odisha and coastal Andhra Pradesh rather than cutting straight across the peninsula.
- (a)Delhi – Kolkata — About 1,453 km — the second-longest arm, and the one students most often pick because it crosses the whole Gangetic plain. It is still more than two hundred kilometres shorter than the Kolkata-Chennai stretch.
- (c)Chennai – Mumbai — About 1,290 km, the shortest of the four. It cuts diagonally across the peninsula through Karnataka and Maharashtra rather than following a coast.
- (d)Mumbai – Delhi — About 1,419 km, third of the four and very close to the Delhi-Kolkata figure — which is why the two are easy to confuse, though neither is the longest.
The Golden Quadrilateral was the first phase of the National Highways Development Project, run by the National Highways Authority of India, and connects Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai with a four-lane and six-lane ring about 5,846 km long. Two supplementary corridors, North-South from Srinagar to Kanniyakumari and East-West from Silchar to Porbandar, were taken up in the next phase.
Order the four arms by what the map does rather than by memorising numbers. The two arms that hug a coast or run the length of the plains are long; the one that cuts across the Deccan is short. That gives Kolkata-Chennai and Delhi-Kolkata at the top and Chennai-Mumbai at the bottom, which is the whole question. As of the 2017 examination the Golden Quadrilateral was substantially complete; highway lengths are revised as stretches are realigned and renumbered, so learn the ranking rather than the decimals.
- The Golden Quadrilateral runs about 5,846 km in total.
- Kolkata-Chennai is about 1,684 km, the longest arm.
- Delhi-Kolkata is about 1,453 km and Mumbai-Delhi about 1,419 km.
- Chennai-Mumbai is about 1,290 km, the shortest arm.
- It was Phase I of the National Highways Development Project under the National Highways Authority of India.
Total ring about 5,846 km; the coast-hugging eastern arm is the longest side.
- Assuming the Delhi-Kolkata plains arm must be the longest because it crosses the most States.
- Confusing the Golden Quadrilateral with the North-South and East-West corridors, which came later.
- Quoting old kilometre figures as exact when stretches have since been realigned.
Highway items ask for the longest route, the corridor that links two named cities, or the States a given national highway passes through.
Which among the following National Highway routes is the longest?
- (a) Agra – Mumbai
- (b) Chennai – Thane
- (c) Kolkata – Hajira
- (d) Pune – Machilipatnam
Answer(c) Kolkata – Hajira
The same 'which route is longest' comparison across national highway sections, decided by the same map sense.
Consider the following statements: 1. Maharashtra State has the maximum share of national highways (length in kilometres). 2. The nature of terrain and the level of economic development is one of the reasons for the maximum share of national highways in Maharashtra. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(c) Both 1 and 2
The same national-highway network measured a different way — by State share of length rather than by the length of a corridor.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Golden Quadrilateral connects which four cities?
- (a)Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai
- (b)Delhi, Lucknow, Hyderabad and Pune
- (c)Srinagar, Kanniyakumari, Silchar and Porbandar
- (d)Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Bhopal and Patna
Answer(a) Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai — the four metropolitan corners of the ring.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Golden Quadrilateral was taken up as
- (a)Phase I of the National Highways Development Project
- (b)A component of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
- (c)A State-sector road programme
- (d)Part of the Border Roads Organisation's mandate
Answer(a) Phase I of the National Highways Development Project — implemented by the National Highways Authority of India.