Centre directs States to expedite work to complete 61,000 km of road in 2018-19
Delay in funding and award of works under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) Phase 1 has slowed down road construction in States like Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, raising concern over achieving the target set for 2019. The quality of work being undertaken is also said to be not up to the mark.
Upset over the situation, the Centre has directed the States to expedite the work so as to meet the target of constructing 61,000 km of road covering over 19,000 habitations in 2018-19. Incidentally, the Centre had advanced the deadline from 2022 to 2019 for completion of all the works of the rural road scheme Phase I.
A closer look at the data pertaining to the construction work in at least 18 States shows that progress under the PMGSY is far from satisfactory. While just seven months are left for the March 2019 deadline, a huge quantum of work is yet to be awarded.
Many States have been far too slow in transferring the funds to the State Rural Roads Development Agency (SRRDA) for fast execution of the job, the Centre noted at a recent meeting chaired by Rural Development Secretary Amarjeet Sinha.
In this scenario, the target under PMGSY-I seems unachievable, admitted a senior official from the Union Rural Development Ministry overseeing the PMGSY. Sinha has written to all the defaulter States, asking them to pull up their socks.
Take the case of Andhra Pradesh. The Southern State has a target of completing connectivity of 120 habitations by March next year, but just 11 habitations (10.09%) have been connected so far. Similarly, against the target of 500 km road length, the achievement is only 24 km.
“The slow pace of construction by the State is much below the national average and is a cause for serious concern.
For the next seven months, the State would require to construct roads at an average rate of 2.17 km per day,” said Sinha in the letter.
The pace of awarding works is also very slow in Andhra Pradesh, as in almost all other States. The Chandrababu Naidu-led Government has 1912 Km incomplete road length, of which 953 Km is unawarded road length. All these works are required to be awarded on priority basis to achieve the target of PMGSY-I by March 2019 and PMGSY-II by March 2020.
The same is the case with Telangana as also other States. Telangana has to complete connectivity of 100 habitations by March, 2019, but only 6 habitations (6%) have been connected. Similarly, against the target of 500 km road length, achievement is only 16 km. For the next seven months, the State would require to construct roads at an average rate of 2.21 km per day to achieve the target.
The Centre has asked Assam to construct roads at an average rate of 21.8 km per day while Bihar will have to gear up its construction pace to 25 km per day. Chhattisgarh would require to construct roads at an average rate of 9 km per day. For the next seven months, Jammu and Kashmir would require to construct roads at an average rate of 10 km per day in case they want to meet their targets by March 2019, said the official.
The pace of awarding works was also found to be very slow. For instance, Telangana has 484 Km incomplete road length, of which 264 Km is unawarded while Arunanchal Pradesh has 2117 Km incomplete road length, of which 726 Km is unawarded.
The quality of roads was also found to be poor. In Arunanchal Pradesh, 67% of roads inspected were found to be unsatisfactory while in Assam, it was 70 per cent. As per NQM inspections maintenance on 44% of roads inspected has been found to be unsatisfactory. In Chhattisgarh, 6.82% of roads inspected has been found to be unsatisfactory while it was 33% in Himachal Pradesh.