As many as 300 km roads connecting 20 panchayats will be constructed by the end of this year. As a result, 3,576 panchayats will be connected by roads. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur had made this announcement in the Budget proposals presented on March 4. As many as 3,556 of 3,615 panchayats have already been connected by roads.
A target has been set to connect 20 more panchayats located in far-flung areas and having a difficult topography in the current financial year. With this, only 39 panchayats will be left without road connectivity.
The number of panchayats increased from 3,226 to 3,615 after re-organisation and of these, 3,556 panchayats have been connected by roads. Besides, 1,200 km of existing roads will be upgraded under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and 23 new bridges will be constructed.
A sum of Rs 4,373 crore has been provided in the Budget for the construction of 1,060 km of motorable roads, 2,065 metalled roads, 75 bridges and cross drainage on 990 km of roads during 2022-23, increasing the total length of motorable and mettaled roads to 40,000 km and 34,000 km, respectively.
A proposal for the construction of 45 roads of 440 km length at an outlay of Rs 552 crore has been proposed under the PMGSY-III and their DPRs will be sent to the Union Government for approval by June this year.