On a Saturday evening Mr. Khanna was reminiscing his younger days while his eyeswere glued to a bike show on television. Although he was enjoying the show

with his son, Rohan, he had quit biking. Rather his old age made him quit.

You know Rohan, when I was your age, I used to go racing

with my friends.

Really dad?!? You never told me!

In fact I almost lived on the roads. There wasn’t a single

highway, where my bike and I hadn’t travelled

Wow! That’s like the whole country. How long did it take?

From Mumbai to Chennai, from Kolkata to Delhi, we had cruised on them all.

Longer than what we planned. The bad roads came up with too many obstacles. At times we had to stop riding it and start walking with it.

Sometimes I wish, I could go back in time. Just to sit on my bike and cruise on

those roads. One last time.

Don’t worry dad, I will fulfil this dream of yours. I’ll take

you out for another ride.

Rohan wasted no time. He logged on to the net and started searching forvarious road maps. And that’s when he chanced upon the Golden Quadrilateral

Look dad, our government has already fulfilled your wish. No bad road, just smooth highways, all we have to do is, take the Golden Quadrilateral.

The Golden Quadrilateral is a highway network connecting India's four largest metropolises: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

It also connects Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Surat. It’s the largest highway project in India, which was initiated by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

It’s the first phase of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP), and aims at building 5,846 km of four/six lane express highways.

Mr. Khanna couldn’t believe it. Next day he set out for a ride with Rohan.

This is like a dream come true. This is way better than the ones I

rode on.

Doesn’t this feel like heaven?

It does son. It does.

Thanks for this ride son!

“Thanks to our government, today I can see my father looking pleased.Kudos to the government for creating The Golden Quadrilateral,”

thought a very happy son, Rohan.

• The vast majority of the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) is not access controlled, although safety features such as guardrails, shoulders, and high-visibility signs are used.

• As of 31st October 2010, 5,806 kms (3,608 mi) has been completed and work on the remaining 40 kms is under progress.

• In September 2009, it was announced that the existing four-lane highways would be converted into six-lane highways.

• The GQ project is managed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways.

• The Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the first controlled-access toll road to be built in India is a part of the GQ Project though not funded by NHAI, and separate from the main highway.

• Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) has been one of the major contributors to the infrastructural development activity in the GQ project.

• Only National Highways are used in the Golden Quadrilateral. The four legs use the following National Highways:

• Delhi – Kolkata: NH 2• Delhi – Mumbai: NH 8 (Delhi – Kishangarh), NH 79A (Ajmer bypass), NH 79

(Nasirabad – Chittaurgarh), NH 76 (Chittaurgarh – Udaipur), NH 8 (Udaipur – Mumbai)

• Mumbai – Chennai: NH 4 (Mumbai – Bangalore), NH 7 (Bangalore – Krishnagiri), NH 46 (Krishnagiri – Ranipet), NH 4 (Ranipet – Chennai)

• Kolkata – Chennai: NH 6 (Kolkata – Kharagpur), NH 60 (Kharagpur – Balasore), NH 5 (Balasore – Chennai)

Friday 7:30 pm & Saturday 7:00 pm