By Vikas Sharma
Jammu : Of the total 2,527 roads/bridges sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) by the Ministry of Rural Development to J&K, only 1,383 projects have been completed while 1,144 are still pending.
This was revealed in a regional review meeting regarding the yojana which was held at Shimla on June 1 and 2 under the chairmanship of Rajesh Bhushan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development and Director General, National Rural Roads Development Agency (NRRDA).
Sources said of the total sanctioned length of 13,672 km, the state has constructed 7,118 km of roads as nearly 6,554 km of the sanctioned length is still pending for completion.
The Director General of the NRRDA said there were nine districts in J&K with less than 40 per cent road connectivity. These are Baramulla, Doda, Kathua, Poonch, Kargil, Kupwara, Rajauri, Srinagar and Udhampur.
J&K has a total of 304 habitations which are not connected. The representatives from the state in the meeting said the detailed progress reports of 116 habitations had already been submitted to the NRRDA and the left out habitations would be reconciled by the end of July this year, the sources added.
The Central ministry had asked the state to hold review meetings with programme implementation units besides fixing targets for completion of the ongoing road works in a time-bound manner. The state was requested to submit a plan of action of all incomplete road works to the Ministry of Rural Development. The ministry also expressed concern over the non-completion of 514 road works pending for more than four years.
Pertinently, the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana was launched on December 25, 2000, as a fully-funded Centrally sponsored scheme to provide all-weather road connectivity in rural areas of the country. The programme envisages connecting all habitations with a population of 500 persons and above in the plain areas and 250 persons and above in hill states, tribal and desert areas.
Source: The Tribune
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