MillenniumPost
Bengal

'Strengthening of about 450 earmarked roads completed ahead of Durga Puja'

Kolkata: Despite inclement weather the state Public Works Department (PWD) has completed repairing and strengthening of roads giving a solace to the people ahead of Durga Puja.

The state PWD had earmarked around 450 crucial thoroughfares for strengthening across the state besides carrying out repairing work of other roads. Incessant rainfall—with a gap of a couple of days in between—since September 14 had thrown a major challenge before the state government in terms of completing the repairing of the roads. It led to a flood in major parts of the eight south Bengal districts – Bankura, Purulia, Howrah, Hooghly, East and West Burdwan, East and West Midnapore and North and South 24-Parganas.

The repairing and strengthening of the roads in the south Bengal districts has been carried out leaving the areas that are still inundated.

"Soon after the weather situation had improved, necessary steps were taken to expedite the process of executing the task. Work was carried out wherever we got the opportunity to execute the same. A close coordination was maintained with district administration to carry out the task," said a senior officer of the state PWD.

This comes at the time when Rs 200 crore is being invested to improve the road condition in the state.

The state PWD minister Moloy Ghatak held a high level meeting a week ago and set the deadline of October 9 to complete the repairing of all major roads.

Additional manpower was deployed at the "dry areas" so that the work can be completed at the earliest.

Even there were many roads that received a layering of mastiff asphalt. "It is a time consuming task. But it has been completed up to the maximum level possible as our aim was to ensure that the people do not have to face convenience at the time of the state's biggest festival," the officer said.

It needs a mention that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had launched Pathashree Abhiyan on October 1 in 2020 to construct more rural roads.

More than 20,000 km village roads were constructed under the project.

This comes when the Bengal government has constructed nearly 10 lakh km road in the past ten years while the figure was just 3000 km from independence to 2011.

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