Minister for Public Works and Parliamentary Affairs, Abdul Rehman Veeri, today reviewed the progress of ongoing works under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).During the review meeting, it was informed that in order to give boost to road communication infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir, over Rs 2800 crore has been sanctioned for the 10th phase of PMGSY. The Phase- X will cover 542 projects which will include construction of 513 roads, and 29 bridges covering over 3519 KM length of roads and over 1217 metres of bridges. The Minister directed the officials to prepare an action plan and asked them to ensure that preparatory work for the project is completed on top priority.The Minister was informed that out of a total of 880 schemes sanctioned under the first 9 phases of PMGSY, 720 had been completed and another 152 were scheduled to be completed by March 2017.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister asked all the functionaries of the department to redouble their efforts to ensure time-bound completion of projects. He further said delays in land acquisition and forest clearance should not be allowed to hamper the completion of projects and concerned Executive Engineers should personally follow up all pending cases with the respective Deputy Commissioners. He emphasized that while the Department had been able to obtain sanction for the Phase-X of the scheme which had been pending for the past 3 years, it was now for the field functionaries to ensure that all sanctioned schemes were executed in time and with proper quality checks.The Minister also reviewed the status of maintenance of completed PMGSY roads and issued directions that no road should remain closed or inaccessible for lack of maintenance. He asked the engineers to ensure that all roads that had been blocked due to landslides or any other occurrence should be restored for traffic immediately so that the public are not put to any inconvenience.