Odisha Govt Targets To Complete PMGSY Roads By March-End

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has set the target to complete the PMGSY roads by the end of March this year.

This was decided at a high level review meeting held under the chairmanship of chief secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra on Monday. Reviewing the progress made so far, he directed the collectors, SPs and executive engineers of the districts concerned to prepare project-wise micro-plan for each project, more particularly for the projects in the Left wing infected areas. He also directed the district administration to provide all support to the contractors working in those remote areas.

Director General of Police Abhaya, participating in the discussion through video conference, assured that police are all set for providing ground level support.

Development Commissioner Pardeep Kumar Jena said, “Road connectivity is prime focus area of the government and there is no problem of funding for the projects under PMGSY, UPANTA, SETU scheme and BIJU Setu Yojana. The ground level works should be expedited through concerted efforts among the police, engineers of RD department and the contractors in a time bound manner.”

Engineer-in-Chief and Special Secretary Rural Development Upnedra Kumar Mund said as per the annual action plan, 2095 km of road have been taken up in the state under PMGSY for 2021-22. As of now, 1500 km have been completed. Out of the balance roads, 250 kms are in the Left wing infected areas. These roads are mostly in isolated areas of Malkangiri, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Rayagada and Koraput districts.

“So far, 64,821 km of road and 583 bridges have been sanctioned under PMGSY against which 61,428 km road and 412 bridges have been completed with investment of around Rs 26,329 crore,” said Additional Secretary Rural development Sudarshan Parida. Presently, the projects are being financed both by Central and State Government on 60:40 sharing basis.

Additional chief secretary Home Sanjeev Chopra, AG Police Amitav Thakur along with senior officers and engineers of the department participated in the review.