Dehradun: Roads that have been pending for years under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in Uttarakhand are soon to be constructed, and preparations for the next phase have also begun.
Recently, Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had approved Rs 1707 crore for the construction of 184 roads in Uttarakhand under the first phase of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (IV), on which the state government is now going to start work. Rural Development Secretary Dhiraj Garbyal said that the total length of these 184 roads to be constructed in the state is approximately 1228 kilometers. Their cost is approximately Rs 1700 crore.
He also informed that Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) have been prepared for approximately 203 roads under the second phase of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (IV). According to the DPRs prepared for these 203 roads identified for the next phase, their construction will cost approximately Rs 1033 crore. He said that a detailed DPR has been prepared and a proposal is being prepared in this regard. Rural Development Secretary Dhiraj Garbyal said that Uttarakhand has recently received approval from the central government for 184 roads. Work will now be carried out at a rapid pace on these approved roads.
He said that the objective of approving these 184 roads is to connect villages with a population of more than 250 to road connectivity. It is also the department’s priority to connect settlements that are not yet connected by road. He also said that some villages have roads, but their condition is not good. There are unpaved roads there, and the department aims to upgrade them and construct high-quality roads. He said that the tendering process for all these roads approved by the central government will be started immediately, and construction work will begin and proceed at a rapid pace. 6000 Villages Excluded from PMGS Standards: Approximately 6000 villages proposed from Uttarakhand for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) were excluded from the scheme’s standards due to their population. All these villages had a population of less than 250. As a result, a large number of rural areas remained unconnected by road. We also inquired about the solutions being devised by the department for all such villages that do not fall under the PMGSY standards. In response, Rural Development Secretary Dheeraj Garbyal stated that the department has come up with a cluster-based solution to address this problem.
Small Settlements Included Under PMGSY Through Cluster Scheme: For villages with a population of less than 250, which were excluded from the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana standards, the Rural Development Department is trying to bring these settlements under the scheme through a cluster plan. Rural Development Secretary Dheeraj Garbyal explained that by creating clusters of these small settlements, these clusters will be brought under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. This will ensure that the population of the cluster meets the scheme’s standards. He said that the department is continuously working on this and a plan is being prepared.
Rural Development Secretary Dheeraj Garbyal stated that so far, thousands of settlements in the state have been connected by road under three different phases of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. He informed that under PMGSY(I), 19,358 kilometers of roads were constructed at a cost of approximately 10,000 crore rupees to connect 1860 settlements, while under PMGSY(II), approximately 112 schemes were sanctioned, most of which were related to road upgradation. Under PMGSY(III), 212 roads were upgraded.
