The Department of Works (DoW) has come up with an ambitious road development programme entailing a Rs 15,000-crore investment in next five years.The State Government has decided to rope in the World Bank for technical assistance for institutionaliaing a sound asset management system.
Sources in the Department of Finance confirmed that the Government has forwarded the proposal to the Department of Economic Affairs in the Union Ministry of Finance seeking technical assistance for efficient road sector management. ACS, Finance UN Behera is in touch with the Union Ministry officials in this regard.
Stakes are high in the road sector as the State Government has decided to scale up the funding to the sector by another Rs 1,000 crore per year. During the period 2010-13, the State Government has invested Rs 1,500-2,000 crore in the sector per annum, which is quite low considering the demand of the State, said a DoW official
Recently, at a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary JK Mohapatra, it was decided to infuse at least Rs 3,000 crore per annum for next five years to upgrade the road infrastructure. Secondly, as there is significant maintenance backlog, at least Rs 1,500 crore would be needed for routine and periodic maintenance to keep the major road network in an agreed level of serviceability.
Development Principal Secretary, Works Nalini Kanta Pradhan had proposed to rope in the services of the World Bank in technical assistance during the visit of the bank’s team. While the DoW is looking after 19,390 km of roads, which is about only seven per cent of the total road length in the State, the Government has engaged consultancy for project management to the World Bank-funded Odisha Road Projects of 300 km only.
And the implementation of these road projects remained unsatisfactory on many fronts. An analysis of various projects reveals that 80 per cent of the projects are severely lagging behind. Construction, planning and management of execution suffer due to lack of adequate technical capacity.
Technical assistance is needed for designing and framing of detailed project report and framing the terms of reference, procurement of works, goods and services and contract management procedures and practices, said an official.