500-km rural road network to be laid under PMGSY-III in Ladakh

The Centre has targeted to construct 500-km rural road network, in the Union Territory of Ladakh, sanctioned under the third phase of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), an official spokesman said on Saturday. The information was given at a meeting chaired by Union Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Giriraj Singh. The minister reviewed the progress of the implementation of PMGSY and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) with various state governments and Union Territory administration through video conference.

Since the creation of the Union Territory of Ladakh in August 2019, 195 km of road has been constructed and blacktopped in Ladakh under PMGSY, providing connectivity to villages.

An amount of Rs 149 crore has been spent during this period and an additional Rs 50 crore have been approved by the Centre under this scheme which will be released soon, Commissioner Secretary (Public Works Department) Ladakh, Ajeet Kumar Sahu, said.

As the task of connecting eligible habitations with all-weather roads has been substantively completed, the Centre has now launched PMGSY-III which envisages consolidation of the existing rural road network by upgrading existing ‘through routes’ and ‘major rural links’ connectivity habitation with ‘Gramin’ (rural) agriculture markets, higher secondary schools and hospitals.

Sahu informed the minister that against the targets under PMGSY-III, detailed project reports (DPRs) of 425 km of road network with an estimated cost of Rs 500 crore have already been sent to the State Technical Agency, empanelled by the ministry.

He also requested the minister for early sanctioning of the DPR considering the short working season of Ladakh, the spokesman said.

The official informed that innovative green technology has been used in constructing 84 km of the road which includes nanotechnology, cement stabilization and waste plastic.