The Odisha Government is very hopeful of receiving sanction of another Rs 657 crore from the Union Government to take up road projects in the left Wing Extremist (lWE) Zones.
Principal Home Secretary Asit Tripathy pursued the project proposal with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which was sent by the Department of Works for Road Requirement Plan (RRP) II and the proposals have been favored by the MHA.
Now the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has prepared the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) Note for approval, which is being circulated in the Union Government. Soon, the proposal will receive assent of the Centre, said sources.
So Odisha is all set to get another financial support of Rs 657.10 crore to develop 24 projects covering 375 km roads.
The EFC Note circulated by MoRD proposes for 5,412 km road length and 126 bridges in nine lWE States, including Odisha.
Principal Secretary Works Nalini Kanta Pradhan, who is spearheading the implementation of road projects in the Maoist hit zones, is taking the active support of Tripathy for such initiatives.
As the performance of Odisha is much better in RRP I, the Maoist affected State will receive increasing support from the Centre, said sources in the MoRD.
Odisha has been successful in implementing RRP I taken up with a cost of Rs 970.61 crore for 14 projects for a road length of 614.80 km. The much touted Gurupriya bridge is also a part of it.
As on today Rs 827.56 crore has been utilized for improvement of 537.08 km road and the rest is being taken up. And Gurupriya bridge construction is on.
The State police, BSF and DVF Jawans are helping out in implementation of the Gurupriya bridge, which is all set to be completed during 2016-17, said sources.
Both the Central and State armed forces are providing 24x7 vigil for the Gurupriya bridge and the construction work is moving at a faster pace after minor hassles, said a senior Superintendent Engineer.