2,245 km of rural roads to be upgraded

Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday wrote to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah conveying the decision of the empowered committeeto accept the State’s proposal. File Photo

Rural roads in the State are set to get further strengthened with the Union Ministry of Rural Development on Monday according conditional clearance for upgrading 2,245 km of rural roads at a cost of Rs. 1,071 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) II.

Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday wrote to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah conveying the decision of the empowered committee to accept the State’s proposal. He said, “I would request you to direct the department concerned to expeditiously send the compliance report on the observations of the committee to the Ministry to enable us to issue the formal clearance for the proposal soon.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry conveyed the final sanction for balance work under PMGSY I for 28 road and 39 bridge projects. The empowered committee asked the State government to correct the proposal module and upload it on Online Management, Monitoring and Accounting System (OMMAS) with regard to detailed reports of these projects.

Scaled down

While the State had sought PMGSY funding for upgrading 2,550 km rural roads with 360 roadwork at a cost of Rs. 1,217.77 crore, the committee said that the State’s entitlement under PMGSY II was limited to 2,245 km only. It asked the State to limit the size of the proposal within the entitlement based on the utility value of the roads. It said that the balance proposals beyond the limit could be kept in the detailed project reports bank and may be taken up once a policy decision on the matter is taken by the Ministry.

Compliance

Before issuing the final clearance, the State government should adhere to PMGSY II guidelines regarding detailed project reports, the committee said. The roads proposed for upgrade should be “through routes” and major rural link roads leading to growth centres or rural hubs. Such roads, after upgrade, should be declared as Major District Roads.

It said that proposals for carriageway width less than 3.75 m may not qualify under PMGSY II while proposals for carriageways with width more than 5.5 m may have to be funded by the State government on pro-rata basis. On fulfilling these conditions, the Ministry would accord final clearance for the proposals, the committee said.