CHENNAI: As many as 7.5 lakh people will find employment opportunities in projects undertaken by the Shipping, Highways and Road Transport Ministry till 2012, Union Minister T.R. Baalu said here on Saturday.

"The shipping sector will offer employment to 3.3 lakh people, the roads sector to 2.9 lakh people and the port sector to 1.3 lakh people," Mr. Baalu said during a campaign to highlight achievements of the United Progressive Alliance Government. Mr. Baalu said that a massive project to construct four lane highways would in itself provide employment for 1.3 lakh people. For one kilometre of a four-lane highway to be constructed, 45 persons would be required and for their regular maintenance five persons would be required, he said. The Minister announced that his Ministry had forwarded a file for a mega project to revive the Buckingham canal as a national inland waterway from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh to Pondicherry. The project awaited approval from the Parliament, he said. "There is also a proposal for creating 1,000 km of inland waterways in the country," Mr. Baalu noted.

As part of the Golden Quadrilateral project, Tamil Nadu would get over 3,200 km of highway road and 129 bridges including 17 rail over bridges, the Union Minister said.

Mr. Baalu quoted statistics to show that Tamil Nadu had a better road network — 6.75 km of road for every one lakh people — when compared to the national average of 5.7 km. Also, the density of roads per 1,000 sq km in Tamil Nadu was 1.8 times more than the national average, he said.

Land acquisition for the Pallavaram subway in Chennai had been completed after the Pallavaram Municipality agreed to provide the required land, the Unions Minister added. The cultural show, organised as part of the exhibition, was by the Song and Drama Division of the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

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