PMGSY funds utilization 99 per cent in Odisha

OST Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Sep 26:

The utilisation of funds under the Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in Odisha has been 99 per cent.

This was revealed at a high level review meeting presided over by chief secretary JK Mohapatra at the state secretariat here.

Out of Rs 10,460 crore received under the programme, around Rs 10,314 crore has already been utilized in the construction of 26223.65 km of road of which 6,985 roads have been connected to 8,956 villages.

The state government has prepared detailed project reports (DPRs) to connect the villages having population of 250 or more in IAP (Integrated Action Plan) districts of Nuapada, Gajapati, Ganjam, Deogarh, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Sonepur, Koraput, Kandhamal, Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Malkangiri, Balangir, Kalahandi and Nayagarh.

In the non-IAP districts, DPRs have been prepared for construction of roads to all villages having a population of more than 500, the meeting revealed.

Besides, as against targeted utilisation of funds to the tune of Rs 569 crore for road construction by August last, Rs 578 crore has been spent in the construction of 742 km of roads providing connectivity to 183 villages.

It was decided in the meeting that 567 more villages would be connected during the current year.

The chief secretary directed the Rural Development department to plan for construction of 6,000 km of roads during next year.

He also asked the department to fix division-wise monthly targets, review the status at the end of each month and sort out problems, if any, through inter-departmental co-ordination.

Among others, principal secretary, Rural Development CJ Venugopal, principal secretary, Forest and Environment RK Sharma and additional chief secretary, Finance UN Behera and senior officials of the concerned departments were present at the meeting.