A total of 10,114 habitations out of 10,763  have been sanctioned road connectivity by the Ministry of Rural Development till February, 2018 in Chhattisgarh under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY),  the Central Government has informed.

Till February, 2018, total of 8,769 habitations have already been connected through all-weather roads. The Government of India has taken a decision to accelerate execution of all-weather road connectivity to eligible habitations thereby substantially complete the habitation connectivity as per the Core Network of PMGSY by March, 2019.

The Central Government has provided a sum of Rs 338.95 crore to Chhattisgarh during the  financial year 2017-18 under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).

The State of Chhattisgarh has reported to have constructed 81 roads measuring length 410.42 Km under New Connectivity and 2 roads measuring length 8.25 Km roads under upgradation till December, 2017, the Central Government has informed.

The above funds have not been utilized for repairing the roads constructed earlier.

As per PMGSY guidelines, maintenance of roads constructed under the programme is the responsibility of the State Governments and all road works are covered by initial five year maintenance contracts to be entered into along with the construction contract, with the same contractor, as per the Standard Bidding Document. Maintenance funds to service the contract are required to be budgeted by the State Governments and placed at the disposal of the State Rural Roads Development Agency (SRRDA) in a separate maintenance account.

On expiry of this 5 year post construction maintenance, PMGSY roads are required to be placed under Zonal maintenance contracts consisting of 5 year maintenance including renewal as per cycle, from time to time. In the current financial year, the State credited Rs 24 crore for routine maintenance of PMGSY roads constructed earlier, out of which an expenditure of Rs. 7.00 crore has been incurred till December, 2017.

The State of Chhattisgarh has provided Rs 225.967 crore as State Share for the financial year 2017-18 .

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.

The Chhattisgarh government has informed 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, the Chhattisgarh Government will soon take up the task of constructing a total of 98 roads in seven districts of the State under 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 PMGSY during the last financial year.

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.

The Union Ministry of Finance will have to allocate to Union Ministry of Rural Development Rs.7,034.72 crore for this project during the period of implementation 2016-17 to 2019-20.

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.

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.

The Union Ministry of Finance will have to allocate to Union Ministry of Rural Development Rs 7,034.72 crore for this project during the period of implementation 2016-17 to 2019-20.

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.