BHUBANESWAR: With only two months left of the current financial year, the State government is way behind schedule in completing construction of 2,700 km of rural roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
The State has constructed around 1,020 km road as on date providing all-weather connectivity to 163 habitations. It had set a target to provide connectivity to 326 habitations in the current fiscal.
Road construction under the flagship programme has remained a non-starter in Balasore, Jagatsinghpur and Nabarangpur districts while the progress is abysmally low in Bhadrak, Cuttack, Jajpur, Kalahandi, Khurda, Nuapada and Sambalpur.
However, there has been noticeable progress in tribal dominated districts of Koraput (149 km), Malkangiri (88 km) and Kandhamal (87 km). One of the best performing states in terms of construction of rural roads, Odisha has completed construction of 71,771 km by providing all-weather connectivity to 20,034 out of 26,579 feasible habitations.
Even as COVID-19 pandemic played spoilsport, the extended monsoon only made the task impossible. Short supply of raw materials like metal chips and morrum also delayed the works, said a senior officer of the Rural Development department.
As per the progress report of the Ministry of Rural Development, the State government has completed only 836 km out of the sanctioned length of 6,478 km roads under PMGSY-III. While 99 per cent of phase-II of the programme has been completed, 90 per cent of the sanctioned road projects have been completed under PMGSY-I.
Road Connectivity Project of Left Wing Extremism affected Areas (RCPLWEA) was started in 2016 to improve connectivity in 44 LWE affected districts including eight in Odisha. Of the sanctioned length of 485 km road in the LWE areas of the State, 302 km has been constructed.
Last year, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval to the proposals of Ministry of Rural Development for continuation of PMGSY-I and II up to September 2022 and LWEA up to March 2023 for completion of the balance road and bridge projects.
Poor performance
The State has constructed 1,020 km road as on date
All-weather connectivity has been provided to 163 habitations against the target of 326
Koraput, Malkangiri and Kandhamal districts have performed well
The State government has completed only 836 km out of the sanctioned length of 6,478 km roads under PMGSY-III