Despite rising militancy in sprawling restive Bastar region and threat by insurgents to key road projects, the Chhattisgarh Government has managed to build several major roads in jungle pockets. The Government is presently working on another 28 roads in insurgency-riddled pockets defying rebels’ diktats. Top Government officials claim that road constructions have been completed under the ‘lWE scheme’.
“Overall, during the past nine-and-half-years, the Government systematically brought up 60,102 kilometers of roads across the State resulting in not just good roads in the urban areas but also in the rural pockets with the focus of bringing basic level of convenience to the villagers,” a top official in PWD department posted in Jagdalpur, headquarters of the Bastar region, informed.
He added that the need to develop a rich network of new roads had been necessitated by Chhattisgarh’s mineral-rich stature with availability of a wide set of tourist destinations which prompted Government policies geared up towards ensuring a high density of road networks.
PWD Minister Brijmohan Agrawal stated that as on March 2013, an estimated 60,102 kms of roads were developed in Chhattisgarh, comprising 20,087 small and large bridges.
The significance of developing ‘Road corridors’ was also felt by the State Government which led to creation of two ‘north-south’ and four ‘east-west’ corridors under the Corridor project, he said.
Agrawal said that there are a total of 19 main roads created with the financial assistance from Asian Development Bank measuring 1,187 kms.
This apart, by-pass roads had been constructed in a total of 12 cities in Chhattisgarh for the convenience of people residing in these cities.
Equally significant had been the ongoing construction of a 1,830 metre bridge over Mahanadi River in Raigarh district-the longest in Chhattisgarh, is nearing completion, he said.