Chief Minister Raman Singh thanked Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari for convening a meeting on developing roads in the left Wing Extremism (lWE) areas on Tuesday.
Singh said that, for its third-term, his Chhattisgarh Government has set the goal to complete all the road construction works underway in Naxal-affected areas of the State by all means. He said that with the support of Central Government, the State will certainly live up to the pledge.
“Construction of roads in Naxal-affected areas of Chhattisgarh is a challenge in itself. Many of our personnel have lost their lives while making efforts to get the construction work completed,” he said. In certain remote areas of Bastar, the circumstances are so adverse that the State Government has to deploy helicopters for supplying ration for villagers and security forces, Singh said.
He said that every now and then, naxalites hinder the progress of construction works. But now, the State Government has begun to engage State Police Housing Corporation and other agencies for these works. Singh said that the work will be divided into smaller tasks, which will be distributed to local youth of these areas.
In the meeting, a presentation on centrally-funded road projects in lWE affected areas of various states was screened. It was informed that the first phase of Road Requirement Plan (RRP) includes the proposal for repairing and upgrading 5477 kms of roads in 34 districts at the cost of nearly Rs7,300 crore. Out of the 5,469 kms of road approved, construction of 3,308 kms has been completed. In Chhattisgarh, construction of 806 kms, out of the 2019 kms of roads approved, has been completed.
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Haribhai Chaudhary especially thanked Chief Minister Raman Singh for organising the important meeting in Chhattisgarh. Chaudhary said that it is a good initiative. The Maoist violence is a serious problem before the nation. The unity that these naxal-affected States have shown in this meeting is simply commendable, he said.
He said that construction works in these areas should be completed on a mission mode. The Home Ministry will also extend every possible aid for the same. In the meeting, Uttar Pradesh PWD Minister Surendra Patel, Madhya Pradesh PWD Minister Sartaj Singh, Chhattisgarh PWD Minister Rajesh Munat, Telangana PWD Minister T Nageshwar, Odisha Forest and Environment Minister Vikram Keshari Arya and Maharashtra PWD Minister Chandrakant Patil also participated.