PMGSY Aims To Construct 57000 Kms Of Roads In FY18

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), in the present financial year 2017-18, aims to construct 57,000 kilometers (kms) of roads, at an average per day rate of 156 kms and to provide connectivity to 16,600 eligible habitations, informed Ministry of Rural Development in an official statement released on Wednesday (5 July).

The pace of construction of PMGSY roads reached a 7 year high of 130 kms per day in 2016-17 as against an average of 73 kms during the period 2011 to 2014.

Therefore, the scheme aims to construct 20 per cent more roads per day than what it has done in fiscal 2017.

PMGSY is being implemented across the country, particularly, in States having historical deficit of rural roads (Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, J&K and Uttarakhand).

In the first quarter of the present financial year 2017-18 (April-June, 2017), a total of 10,556 kms of PMGSY roads have been constructed, clocking an average of 117.28 kms per day. This compares very favorably to the first quarter of 2016-17 (April-June, 2016), when a total length of 8,756 kms was constructed at an average of 97.29 kms per day.

The progress in terms of length constructed in the present financial year is 18.51 per cent of the total annual target. The present rate of construction would further accelerate from October, 2017 to March, 2018, added the Ministry.

Against an annual target of providing connectivity to 16,600 eligible habitations, in the first quarter of the financial year 2017-18, 2,543 habitations have been provided connectivity, which is 15.31 per cent of the annual target.

PMGSY aims to connect 1,78,184 eligible habitations across the country out of which projects relating to 1,61,576 habitations have already been sanctioned (90.67 per cent of the eligible habitations) and 1,29,004 habitations have been connected till June, 2017 (72.39 per cent of eligible habitations and 79.84 per cent of sanctioned habitations), by constructing a total of 5,12,031 kms of roads.

PMGSY has also focused on use of non-conventional construction materials (waste plastic, cold mix, fly ash, jute and coir geo-textiles, iron and copper slag, cell filled concrete, paneled cement concrete etc.) and “Green Technologies” in PMGSY roads.

The target for use of such materials and technologies during 2017-18 is 10,082 kms. Against this target, in the first quarter of the financial year till June, 2018, 1,235.22 kms have been constructed.

The states which are doing particularly well in this field are Rajasthan (381 kms), Punjab (181 kms), Odisha (131.38 kms), Madhya Pradesh (116.07 kms) and Tamil Nadu (102 kms).