The 'Chhattisgarh State Road Development Project' funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is designed to rehabilitate State roads which have been identified from important State road corridors which include State roads linking to the national highway corridors, officials informed.
The Project is closely aligned with the development objectives of ADB, Government of India and Chhattisgarh that promote equitable growth through sustainable agriculture and rural development, they informed.
Notably, PWD Minister Rajesh Munat in January this year had stated that 856 kms of road construction work funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB) is currently underway in Chhattisgarh.
The Government has also developed 936 kms of roads worth Rs 700 crore with the amount provided by ADB between the year 2008 to 2011, he said.
Munat was speaking at the inaugural function of the five-day training programme conducted under the aegis of Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Raipur.
During the programme, the Minister said that selecting Chhattisgarh for ADB training session is a matter of pride and honour for the State.
Munat had stated that Chhattisgarh is leaping towards new direction and making history for overall infrastructural development of the State which includes constructing national highways and execution of several development projects while keeping attention towards social security and environmental conservation.
As Chhattisgarh region is covered with 44 percent of forest areas, it is our top priority to implement every project balanced with environmental conservation,
Munat said, adding that State government has also made arrangements for plantation after cutting of trees during execution of infrastructural development projects. Also, the Government has been providing livelihood and shelter to the project affected, he said.
The expansion and widening of 15 road projects is being carried on at a brisk pace with the financial assistance of Asian Development Bank (ADB).This was revealed by Public Works Minister Rajesh Munat even in April last year.He had called upon the department officers to complete the roads being laid with the financial aid of ADB in a time-bound manner and maintain high-quality standards.
The financial outlay is about Rs 1887.82 crore for the 916.40 km of 15 roads / routes. The Chhattisgarh Road Sector Project sponsored by ADB will be completed by March 2017, he said.
Munat had urged the concerned officers to post all the relevant details on status of road projects online. The project details should be transparent and mentioned at the site: when was project sanctioned, completion date, cost details, contractors names, how many engineers are on duty and other details.
The roads being laid are: Raipur-Balodabazar route, Nandghat-Balodabazar route, Simga-Tilda-Aarang-Kurud route, Raipur-Urla-Pataridih-Kodwa route, Rajnandgaon-Kachche route, Chilfi-Rengakhar-Salhewara route, Chandkhuri-Sambalpur-Nawagarh route, Dhamda-Rohra-Jorhatrai-Ataria- Khairagarh route, Khairagarh-Dongargarh-Tumdibodh route,Balod-Dhamtari , Anda-Funda route, Bodla-Tarengaon-Daldali route, Shivrinarayan-Birra-Champa route, Ratanpur-Kota-lormi-Pandaria-Mungeli route.
While taking it as a challenge, the Chhattisgarh government has completed construction of 1052 kms of roads in insurgency infested pockets of the State with co-operation of the Central government, State PWD Minister Rajesh Munat said.
Chhattisgarh government has set 2018 deadline to complete construction of an additional 3,000 kms of road network with an investment of USD 2.34 billion.
This is based on the basis of an Annuity/BOT/loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), official sources informed.
ADB had also been helping Chhattisgarh government upgrade about 916 kilometers of roads in the State.
The works include development of new road sections, two-laning work, constructing and strengthening culverts and bridges, officials stated.
Notably, new stretches of rural roads are rapidly coming up in Chhattisgarh with massive funding support from ADB. The ADB has provided lending support to Chhattisgarh for projects undertaken under Prime Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
The international funding agency had been helping to either construct or upgrade 31,000 kms of rural roads in the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradsh, Odisha, West Bengal and Assam nationally, officials added.
Notably, the Chhattisgarh government has already started taking steps to even settle the forest land disputes under the Forest Protection Act 1980 as early as possible for accelerating the process of laying of roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) (Prime Minister's Rural Roads Project).
A time-bound action plan has been chalked out for various departments to settle the issues relating to forest land expeditiously.
Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand in a circular issued last year had directed that all the road works should be completed in a time-bound manner.
The Chief Secretary said that the land area should be inspected by the Forest Department officer on the next day itself. The District Collector should be informed if there is any delay. The concerned Collector should settle the issue in within 10 days.
The time-frame has been fixed as per the hectares of forest land.
The officers of Panchayat and Rural Development Department in a State-level Standing Committee of Panchayat and Rural Development Department chaired by the Chief Secretary in December last year had taken stock of the status of roads and structures being constructed under PMGSY.
It was informed in the meeting that 5124 permanent roads have been constructed in Phase 1 to 8 of the scheme. The total length of these roads is 22750 km. These include roads constructed in Phase 1 to 8 of the scheme besides roads constructed in different phases of Rural Road Connectivity Programme of the Asian Development Bank.
The construction of these roads has facilitated people of 7610 rural settlements for commuting in these all weather roads, it was informed.
In the meeting it was also informed that construction of 337 roads was completed at a cost of Rs 715 crore under PMGSY in the financial year 2013-14. The length of these roads is 1292 km and their construction has linked 969 settlements.
As many as 37 roads have been sanctioned under the advance technology of PMGSY. Among these, construction of four roads has been completed while construction of 10 roads is under progress. The process of tender agreement is completed for five roads while tenders for 18 roads are under process. In the meeting, the officers informed that proposals for construction of 294 roads worth Rs 1023.51 crore and construction of 103 bridges worth Rs 1318 crore was been sent to the Central government for financial year 2014-15.