Last Updated on March 14, 2021 at 7:40 pm
Pradhan Mantri Grammen Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) which was introduced for providing connectivity to remote areas has shown poor performance as agencies could not achieve even half of the targets set up for the last two financial years. The targets which were set under PMGSY Phase-I in 2000 are still not complete even after 20 years.
A target of 3,000 kilometres was set-up for the financial year 2019-20 for Jammu and Kashmir but roads of only 1175 kilometres of length could be completed which is just 39 per cent. Similarly for the financial year 2018-19, a target length of 2800 kilometres was set but only 1559 kilometre road length was completed.
However, agencies performed quite well in the financial year 2017-18 as they completed 1760 km of road length out of the target length of 1800 kilometres.
Phase-1 of PMGSY started in December 2000. Road length of 18,432 kilometres along with 234 long-span bridges was sanctioned for construction but agencies could complete a road length of only 12,809 kilometres along with 102 bridges. After 20 years, a road length of around 5623 kilometres and 132 long-span bridges are still not completed and is expected to be executed by March 2021.
Phase 2 of PMGSY started in the year 2013. A road length of 704 kilometres along with 7 long-span bridges was set as a target but only 29 kilometres of road length is completed and no bridge is constructed after 8 years.
Phase-III of PMGSY started in December 2019. A target of road length of 1750 kilometres was set to be completed. But the UT administration didn’t share details about the number of habitations to be covered, number of long-span bridges to be completed or any other detail
This poor performance in the construction of roads could be attributed to various factors like delay in forest clearances and other No objection certificates (NOCs) to contractors. Ultimately, it has caused inconvenience to people who have been most affected as they have to use these roads and bridges.
