Submit details of rural roads requiring renovation within Feb 23: State to DMs

kolkata: The state government has given specific directives to the state Panchayats and Rural Development (P&RD) department to start repairing works and renovation of more than 8,500 village roads in March ahead of Panchayat elections.

Following the instruction of the government, the P&RD is set to complete the tendering process and issue a work order within March 27. All the District Magistrates have been directed to submit the details to the department as to which roads need to be undertaken for repairing works within February 23. P&RD has been asked to develop a special application and portal which will be used for geo-tagging the village roads which will be repaired. The concerned officials have to post in the portal the images of the village roads before or after the repair work was done. Videography of roads will be given priority.

The District Magistrates have already been instructed to ensure that Gram Panchayat and Panchayat Samiti are not involved in the tendering process. Tendering process will be done from the DM or SDO or BDO office. The state government may carry out campaigns in the villages to make people aware about the state government’s initiatives of repairing all the roads which are in bad condition.

As per estimates of the state Panchayats and Rural Development (P&RD) department, the construction of the roads will entail an expenditure to the tune of Rs 2000 to 3000 crore which has already been sanctioned. Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi earlier this month held a meeting with concerned officials of the P&RD department and officials of the district administration in this regard. Funds received under PMGSY (Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sarak Yojana) and state funds will be utilised for the construction of the road. It is learnt that the P&RD department has already come up with a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and the survey of the roads will start soon. State government wants the quality of materials to not be compromised during road construction so that they are durable. There have been allegations that roads have got damaged in a short time and needed to be repaired again.