Centre sanctions ₹3k crore for village roads in HP: Vikramaditya Singh

Himachal Pradesh has secured sanction for the construction of 3,123 kilometres of rural roads and 43 bridges at a total cost of ₹3,345.81 crore under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)-III.

This was stated by public works minister (PWD) Minister Vikramaditya Singh in a media interaction on Tuesday.

“We are aiming for approval of another 1,400 kilometres of roads and to connect 1,560 habitations with populations between 200 to 250 people,” Singh said. “Our government is making sustained efforts to strengthen the road network across Himachal, especially in remote and backward regions where all-weather connectivity is crucial,” Singh said after meeting the Union ministers during his recent visit to Delhi.

Singh said, “So far now, 517.334 kilometers of road length has been completed, incurring an expenditure of ₹802.59 crore. This progress reflects the commitment of the department towards improving rural connectivity in a time-bound manner.”

He added, “PWD department was proactively working on PMGSY-IV. Mapping of 1,560 habitations has been completed and out of which 1,115 habitations were found eligible by the ministry of rural development (MoRD). So far, 862 habitations, including 102 under Stage-I, have already been approved by the ministry.”

He said that following a meeting with the Union minister for rural development on April 30, a high-level team from the National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (NRIDA) visited Shimla on May 2 and May 3. The team held detailed discussions with PWD officials and assured that the 247 habitations which were earlier rejected would be reconsidered on a case-to-case basis after proper verification.

“We are executing PMGSY-III projects worth ₹3,345.81 crore. Our goal is to complete these within 18 months. Already ₹802 crore has been spent from the funds sanctioned for 2024-25,” he said.