‘Achhe din’ for state roads as govt rolls out Rs1,560-cr plan

Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 29

Haryana roads, which have been in a state of neglect for years, are set for ‘achhe din’ with the Khattar government rolling out ambitious Rs 1,560-crore plan for recarpeting.

Under the plan, which is set to be executed in this current financial year, a lion’s share of Rs 1,346 crore of the total outlay would go for the recarpeting of the other district roads (ODR) and village roads, which had been crying for repairs for several years, sources told The Tribune here today.

While an outlay of Rs 907 crore had been set aside for 1,104 ODR, Rs 439 would be spent on village roads. On the other hand, Rs 97.51 crore have been earmarked for 30 state highways (SH) and Rs 97.47 crore for 29 major district roads (MDR), which are in a comparatively better state than the ODR and village roads.

Sources said the comprehensive plan had been formulated on the directions of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who sparingly used the state chopper and preferred to travel by road to various districts. “By coming out with the comprehensive road augmentation plan for the entire state , the first BJP government wants to dispel the notion of uneven development, especially regarding road connectivity, to fulfil its pre-poll promise of ‘sab ka saath, sab ka vikas’,” said the sources.

State Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Rao Narbir Singh said good road connectivity was among the top priorities of the BJP government and it was committed to providing a smooth ride to the commuters. “Tenders for road recarpeting works of a majority of the roads has been floated and the work will start on war-footing after the monsoons,” the minister said.