Bhubaneswar: The state government Thursday urged the Centre to sanction 24 road projects under Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism Affected Areas (RCPLWE) in Koraput and Malkangiri districts.
Though some stretches of 24 road projects have been improved under PMGSY during the past 10 years to a width of 3 metres, the Centre has not yet included the projects under RCPLWE, official sources said.
Since all the approved road projects are crucial from security and communication point of view, Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi wrote a letter to the Union rural development secretary Amarjeet Sinha to include them this year.
In his letter, Padhi said the improvement of the roads had been suggested as their width has not been increased to a desirable level of 5.5 metre.
The government has made all institutional arrangements for the projects and has readied their detailed project reports (DPRs).
“In view of the above facts, I would request you to sanction the DPRs for the entire length of the 24 approved projects of Koraput and Malkangiri without deleting the stretches stated to have been taken up under PMGSY in the past 10 years,” Padhi wrote to Sinha.
Meanwhile, Padhi also sought termination of contracts of two delayed NH projects — upgradation of Nuapada-Bangomunda section of NH 217 (from 90 km to 158 km) and widening of NH 326 (Tandikona-Amalbhata section) in Rayagada district — as the agency concerned is delaying the project despite repeated approach. The stipulated date of completion for NH 217 projects was June 11, 2016 but 46 per cent of work has been completed so far.
Similarly, the NH project in Rayagada district was supposed to complete by November 1, 2016. However, only 28 per cent of work has been completed so far, the sources said.
The state government urged the Union ministry of road transport and highways to terminate the contract of the two agencies so that the bidding process for the balance works could be completed during the rainy season.
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