Centre has sanctioned 294 rural road projects: Minister

The Central Government has sanctioned 294 new road projects for the state under the Phase-IV of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) to be constructed at a cost of Rs 2,271 crore, said Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Vikramaditya Singh here today.

Vikramaditya, while addressing a press conference, said that the state would get around 1,538 km of roads, which would boost connectivity in difficult and tribal areas and providing a push to the rural economy. He added that the repair and upgrade of older roads built under the PMGSY-I had been integrated with the PMGSY-IV works to improve the road quality.

The minister appealed to the people of the state to voluntarily execute ‘gift deeds’ in favour of road construction wherever private land falls in the alignment. He added that this would help in the timely construction of roads, especially in the hilly and tribal areas of the state.

He said that the state government had constituted a high-level committee headed by the Principal Secretary to inquire into the complaints of substandard road tarring work done in several areas. He added that the committee would submit its report to the government within a week. The minister made it clear that stern action would be taken against the contractors as well as the officials concerned, who are found guilty.

He said that state had suffered a total loss of over Rs 4,000 crore due to multiple natural disasters triggered by torrential rain this year. The road network in the state, mainly in Bharmour, Aut, Sainj and Luhri, suffered extensive damage, he added.

Vikramaditya said that though Rs 1,500 crore aid had been announced for Himachal, the state was yet to receive the amount from the Central Government. “The state government is continuing with the restoration work with its own funds. At present, around 50 roads are blocked in the state and efforts are underway to reopen them at the earliest,” he added.

The minister warned that stern action would be taken against those involved in illegally dumping debris at unauthorised places.