As far as road connectivity is concerned, Chhattisgarh is at the top among the three newly-formed States of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand.
According to the recent economic survey of Jharkhand Government, the total length of asphalted road connectivity in Jharkhand is 26,277 km, whereas, in Chhattisgarh it is 75,742 km and in Uttarakhand 52,628km. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, while inaugurating ring-road extension project in his State, said that his Government has been sanctioning development of new roads and bypass road construction works for providing better road facilities. According to PWD officers of Jharkhand, the State has inherited about 5000-km bad roads from Bihar State. Besides, the political instability is also responsible for it to a great extent.
On the contrary, PWD Minister in Chhattisgarh Rajesh Munat said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Raman Singh, the State Government has continued to allocate more funds for development of roads, bridges and culverts during the past 11 years. “We are paying special attention to road qualities. In 2004-05, the Department was allocated Rs 622.80 crore, which was raised to Rs 3772.54 crore in 2013-14. From the next fiscal year the State Government has sanctioned more than Rs 3500 crore budget, he said. During the last 10 years, the department has built 916 big bridges and 23000 culverts. Besides, 14 railway over and under bridges were constructed. In major cities, including Raipur, a dozen bypass roads were laid to ensure effective and smooth transportation, Munat said.
In Chhattisgarh, thousands of kilometers of all-weather roads were constructed under the PM’s Gram Sadak Yojna and Chief Minister’s Village Road and Development Scheme. According to the economic survey 2013-14 of the State Government, the PWD built and upgraded 3639-km roads in 2012-13. Similarly, in 2013-14, 2109-km roads were constructed and upgraded until September 2013. In the same period, 15 big bridges and three medium bridges were also built.