Roads built despite wanton violence in the interiors of Chhattisgarh dealt a body blow to Maoist terror in the state.

Roads built during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s prime ministership sprung thousands of census towns from villages — between 2001 and 2011, after the Golden Quadrilateral was implemented, new census towns rose from 1,362 to 3,894 — spurring rapid urbanisation and economic growth.

And now, India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, is building roads at a frenzied pace to throw open the gates of development.

UP has recorded a big expansion of its National Highway network over the last decade under CM Yogi Adityanath, growing by 34 per cent and crossing the 10,700-km mark. The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has sanctioned Rs 2.16 lakh crore in UP since 2014, with Rs 1.32 lakh crore spent so far.

The ministry’s status report shows 262 projects covering 8,211 km have been approved, with the........

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