New Delhi: As many as 400 road projects worth Rs 1585.26 crore were taken up in Jammu and Kashmir during the financial year 2021-22. This was a quantum leap from 2018-19, when only 28 projects worth Rs 80.96 crore were taken up.
Official sources said in 2019-20, 84 projects were taken up worth Rs 231.29 crore, while in 2020-21, a sum of Rs 418.67 crore was spent, and a total of 115 projects were taken up.
Sources said as many as 91 bridges had been completed during 2021-22, and the figure was huge again compared to a modest number of 25 bridges in 2018-19.
On August 5, 2019, the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated, and President’s Rule was imposed on the Union Territory. The ‘infamous’ Article 370 was also abrogated.Sources said in 2021-22, out of 91 bridges, as many as 53 have been constructed under PMGSY, which has helped connectivity to far-flung areas.
During 2021-22, 3284 km of PMGSY roads were constructed, and 7609 km were blacktopped. Compared to these, in 2018-19, only 25 bridges were completed, and 2387 km were blacktopped.
During that period between April 2018 and March 2019, 1622 km of roads were taken up under PMGSY. In 2020-21, a total of 78 bridges were completed, 3167 km constructed under PMGSY, and 5136 km blacktopped.
Giving details, officials said under PMGSY in 2016-17, Jammu and Kashmir were ranked 9th at the national level, and the performance declined to 11th position in 2017-18, and it nosedived to 12th ranking in 2018-19.
But it revived soon after the change of guards and ground situation, and the ranking improved to 9th in 2019-20,and it is now third during 2020-21 and 2021-22 for the last two consecutive financial years.
In the Union Territory, a total of 2526 PMGSY projects have been taken up, covering 17,336 km, and this has helped connect 2071 habitations, sources said.Sources also said that the 6.50 km Z-Morh Tunnel on the Srinagar-Sonamarg road would be completed by December 2023.
Among other works yet again, the 14.15 km two-lane-bi directional Zojila Tunnel with 14.20 km parallel escape work is in progress. “Similarly, the work is also in progress for two 4-lane twin-tube tunnels — the 4.38 km Marog to Digdole Alloted and 3.2 km Digdole to Khooni Nallah besides viaducts of 6 km at Mompassi to Sherbibi and between Nashri-Ramban.”
In the words of Jammu and Kashmir Jt Governor Manoj Sinha, his administration is working to ensure that people belonging to deprived sections enjoy social justice and equality, and the last man on the socio-economic ladder receives equal opportunity.
“An economy in scarcity in Jammu and Kashmir is being transformed into an economy of surplus,” Mr Sinha has said.His views are also virtually echoed and endorsed by no less than Union Home Minister Amit Shah,who has said in the past that,”Jammu and Kashmir are among the top states and Union Territories in India implementing central schemes”.
It is worth mentioning that the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) was launched in December 2000 to provide unrestricted all-weather road connectivity to unconnected villages of India.
It is a centrally sponsored scheme and is part of the poverty reduction strategies of the central government. Moreover, the PMGSY shall cover only rural areas. Urban roads are excluded from the purview of this programme. Even in the rural areas, PMGSY covers only the Rural Roads, that is, the roads that were formerly classified as ‘Other District Roads’ and ‘Village Roads’.
Official sources also say that under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), a total of 39,413 Km of road length and 1,394 bridges were constructed across the country under various interventions/verticals of PMGSY with an expenditure of Rs 23,364 crores, including the ‘state shares’ in 2022
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