Govt aims to construct 500-km rural road under PMGSY-III in Ladakh

On Saturday, an official said that the centre aims to complete the construction of a 500 km rural road network in Ladakh. It has been sanctioned under the Phase-III of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). This information was shared at a meeting chaired by Union Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister, Giriraj Singh.The implementation progress of PMGSY and PMAY-G was reviewed via video conference by the minister with several state governments and Union Territory administration. After the Union Territory of Ladakh was created in August 2019, 195 km of road was constructed and blacktopped in Ladakh. The construction has been executed under PMGSY. The road provides connectivity to villages. Commissioner Secretary Ladakh, Ajeet Kumar Sahu said that during the period around Rs 149 crore is spent, and under the scheme which is yet to be released the centre has approved additional Rs 50 crore. As the task of connecting eligible habitations with all-weather roads has been substantively completed, the centre has now launched PMGSY-III which contemplates consolidation of the current rural road network by upgrading these ‘through routes’ as well as ‘major rural links’ connectivity habitation to ‘Gramin’ - rural, agriculture markets, higher secondary schools, and hospitals. Sahu has informed the minister that for the targets set under the PMGSY-III, 425 km of road network’s detailed project reports (DPRs) approximately worth Rs 500 crore are sent to the State Technical Agency that is empanelled by the ministry. A request for quick sanctioning of the DPR has been made considering Ladakh’s short working season. Image Source