Bharatamala Pariyojana is related to
- (a)interlinking of Northern and Southern Indian rivers in a garland shape.
- (b)networks of National Highways in India.
- (c)interlinking of all cities of India through Railways.
- (d)interlinking of all industrial regions of India through pipelines.
Correct — B, networks of National Highways in India. Bharatmala Pariyojana is the Government of India's umbrella highways programme (launched in 2017-18) for building and upgrading National Highways — economic corridors, feeder and inter-corridor routes, border and coastal roads, expressways and greenfield corridors — so as to improve freight and passenger road connectivity across the country. As of the April 2021 exam its first phase was under implementation.
- (a)interlinking of Northern and Southern Indian rivers in a garland shape. — River interlinking is the aim of the National River Linking Project (Himalayan and Peninsular components), not Bharatmala, which is a roads programme.
- (c)interlinking of all cities of India through Railways. — Bharatmala is a road-sector scheme; rail connectivity comes under separate railway projects and dedicated freight corridors.
- (d)interlinking of all industrial regions of India through pipelines. — Pipeline grids (for gas, etc.) are unrelated to Bharatmala, whose focus is highway construction.
Bharatmala Pariyojana is a centrally sponsored and funded road and highways project under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. It aims to optimise freight and passenger movement by developing economic corridors, inter-corridor and feeder routes, national corridors, border and international connectivity roads, coastal and port-connectivity roads, and greenfield expressways.
The name sounds like 'garland' (mala), which tempts candidates towards the river-interlinking 'garland' idea. But Bharatmala is about roads: the discriminator is that it is the flagship National Highways development programme, distinct from river-linking, railway and pipeline schemes.
- Bharatmala Pariyojana is an umbrella National Highways development programme launched in 2017-18.
- It is implemented by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (largely through NHAI).
- Components include economic corridors, feeder routes, border/coastal roads and greenfield expressways.
- It is distinct from the National River Linking Project (rivers) and from rail/pipeline schemes.
- Linking the 'mala' (garland) in the name to river interlinking — Bharatmala is about roads.
- Confusing Bharatmala (highways) with Sagarmala (ports/coastal) or with railway corridor projects.
Asked as 'scheme X is related to ___', or by matching flagship programmes (Bharatmala, Sagarmala, UDAN) to their sectors.
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
Same concept — India's National Highway network, the road system that Bharatmala Pariyojana is designed to build and upgrade.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Sagarmala programme of the Government of India is primarily related to
- (a)national highways
- (b)port-led development and coastal shipping
- (c)river interlinking
- (d)rural electrification
Answer(b) port-led development and coastal shipping — Sagarmala is the ports/maritime counterpart to the road-focused Bharatmala.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Bharatmala Pariyojana is implemented mainly by which ministry?
- (a)Ministry of Railways
- (b)Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
- (c)Ministry of Jal Shakti
- (d)Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
Answer(b) Ministry of Road Transport and Highways — Bharatmala is its flagship National Highways programme.