The Chhattisgarh Government had been sanctioned Rs 352 crores for development of roads in left Wing Extremism (lWE) infested districts under Road Requirement Plan-I (RRP-I) during the current financial year, the Central Government has informed.
The Government has approved a scheme of construction of roads under left Wing Extremism (lWE) under Road Requirement Plan-I (RRP-I) in 2009 for development of 5477 km roads at a cost of Rs. 7300 crore covering eight States viz. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha (erstwhile Orissa) and Uttar Pradesh, with other developed areas of the respective States as well as neighbouring States and other parts of the country. The details of State-wise expenditure made till December 31, 2017.
The Chhattisgarh government had informed last year that new roads measuring 1320 kms have been completed in left Wing Extremism (lWE) infested districts of the State under Centre’s RRP-I scheme.
Notably, a total of 6372 rural roads measuring 26,815 kms had been prepared in Chhattisgarh so far involving an expenditure of Rs 7880 crore under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) during the current financial year so far.
The Government have taken up the task of constructing a total of 98 roads in seven districts of the State under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
The districts where the roads would be constructed are- Sukma, Rajnandgaon, Bijapur, Dantewada, Kondagaon, Janjjgir-Champa and Kanker, officials informed. Notably, a total of 6372 rural roads measuring 26,815 kms had been prepared in Chhattisgarh so far involving an expenditure of Rs 7880 crore under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) during the current financial year so far.
A total of 6697 rural roads had been approved by the Central Government measuring 29,562 kms under PMGSY.
A total of 105 new roads would be constructed in various districts of Chhattisgarh under batch-II of the project work under PPMGSY, officials informed. It may be recalled that the worst insurgency infested districts of Chhattisgarh would be able to further provide a boost to rural road connectivity work with the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi approving a Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely "Road Connectivity Project for left Wing Extremism (lWE) Affected Areas". The project is aimed at improving the rural road connectivity in the worst lWE affected districts from security angle, officials informed.
The project will be implemented as a vertical under PMGSY to provide connectivity with necessary culverts and cross-drainage structures in 44 worst affected lWE districts and adjoining districts in the country, critical from security and communication point of view. The roads will be operable throughout the year irrespective of all weather conditions. Under the project, construction/upgradation of 5,411.81 km road and 126 bridges/Cross Drainage works will be taken up at an estimated cost of Rs.11,724.53 crore in the above district.
The fund sharing pattern of lWE road project will be same as that of PMGSY i.e. in the ratio of 60:40 between the Centre and States for all States except for eight North Eastern and three Himalayan States (Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh & Uttarakhand) for which it is 90:10.
Moreover, the 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.
In Chhattisgarh, Malkangiri district of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, lWE areas of Jharkhand, there is challenge for Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) implementation on account of left Wing Extremism (lWE). The states of Bihar and West Bengal which also have large connectivity to achieve and therefore, require speedy implementation, the Central Government has informed.
The Ministry is constantly following up with all these States to ensure achievement of targets by March 2019. Funds are not a constraint and States have been forthcoming with their State share, it informed.
The major challenge lies in Assam, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttrakhand on account of the difficult terrain.
To further enable ease of decision making, monitoring and transparency, the Department is committed to complete GIS mapping of all rural roads of the country by 2018.