Strike balance between ecology, development: Chief Secretary

Srinagar, May 16: Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta Tuesday chaired the UT Level Standing Committee Meeting of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) here.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, PWD; Chief Engineer, PMGSY Jammu/Kashmir and many other concerned officers.
The Chief Secretary emphasized upon connecting all the inhabited villages. He called for striking the balance between the ecology and development. He asked the department to explore all the possibilities so that minimum damage is caused to environment while constructing these roads.
Dr Mehta further impressed upon resolution of local problems by concerned Deputy Commissioners to avoid any hindrances for one reason or another. He also advised sensitizing the people about the benefits of these road projects so that unnecessary resistance is avoided and delays are minimized.
He appreciated the Department for carrying out the task of giving last mile connectivity to all the habitations. He said that the task is quite vital for development of any area.
Giving details the Principal Secretary, PWD, Shailendra Kumar apprised the meeting that the department has framed an action plan for completion of balance works under PMGSY I and II also besides taking in hand the works allocated under PMGSY III sanctioned in the month of August last year.
It was given out that 155 roads of the length of 1272.44 Kms have been sanctioned under the first batch of the 3rd phase to be completed at a cost of Rs 1357.86 Cr. It was also revealed that some additional roads and bridges are also proposed under this phase by the department that are favourably being looked at by the MoRD, GoI.
The meeting was apprised that the Department has laid a well thought out action plan for completing construction of 543 Roads and 47 Long Span Bridges (LSBs) at a cumulative cost of Rs 2414.95 Cr including the balance of previous phases in the ensuing financial year.
The meeting further deliberated upon various reasons for delay in completion of the projects. It also held discussions about the ways and means of resolving these hindrances and expediting completion of these road projects.
Pertinent to mention here that the Department has incurred an expenditure of Rs 1114 Cr during the previous financial year. It has also spent around Rs 10656 Cr under PMGSY phase I & II completing record number of 2781 Roads and 186 LSBs of the cumulative length of about 17800 Kms thereby connecting 2096 habitations in the length and breadth of the UT.