4,800 km roads widened in Maoist zones since 2016
New Delhi: Over 4,800-km road length has been upgraded and widened in Maoism-hit states to 5.5 metre carriageways since 2016 under the Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism Affected Areas (RCPLWEA), the Parliament was informed on Tuesday.
Minister of Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in a reply in Lok Sabha, said that RCPLWEA was launched as a separate vertical of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) for construction/upgradation of strategically-important roads which were critical from a security point of view.
“These roads were identified by the Ministry of Home Affairs in consultation with the Home Departments of the states,” he said.
Sharing details of the progress made in road-widening in Maoism-hit areas, Chouhan said the highest number of 94 roads, with a length of 1,491 km, were upgraded in Bihar.
Chhattisgarh was the next biggest beneficiary where 61 roads, with a length of 1,107 km, were upgraded, he said.
Other Left Wing Extremism-hit states where roads were upgraded included Andhra Pradesh with 26 roads, Jharkhand with 29 roads, Odisha with 29 roads, Telangana with 33 roads and Uttar Pradesh with 23 roads.
The Minister said as part of a poverty reduction strategy, the Government launched the PMGSY in 2000 for providing connectivity by way of an all-weather road to the eligible unconnected habitations.
In 2013, PMGSY-II was launched for upgradation of selected Through Routes and Major Rural Links (MRLs) with a target to upgrade 50,000 km roads.
In the year 2019, PMGSY-III was launched for consolidation and upgradation of 1,25,000 km Through Routes and Major Rural Links connecting habitations, inter-alia, to Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs), Higher Secondary Schools and Hospitals, he said.
Under the PMGSY-II and III, roads were eligible for upgradation to 5.5 metre carriageways on traffic consideration, he said.