29 road projects for two Maoist-hit dists approved

BHUBANESWAR: IN a major initiative, the State Government has sanctioned 29 road projects worth Rs 350.52 crore for the tribal-dominated and Maoist-hit Koraput and Malkangiri districts.The projects were sanctioned by the newly-constituted Odisha State Rural Connectivity Project Agency (OSRPCA) during its first governing body meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi here on Wednesday.

While 16 road projects estimated to cost Rs 248.14 crore have been sanctioned for Kalimela, Malkangiri, Mathili, Mudulipada, Orkel and Podia blocks of Malkangiri district, the remaining 13 projects costing Rs 102.38 crore will be implemented in Boipariguda, Koraput, Lamtaput, Narayanpatna and Semiliguda blocks of Koraput district.The projects will be implemented with financial support from the Central and State Governments on 60:40 sharing basis.

The Chief Secretary asked the Works Department to expedite the tender process for awarding works for timely completion of the projects. He further directed the department to use new technology like cement treated sub-base, warm mix asphalt (WMA), cold semi dense bituminous concrete (SDBC) and nano-technology to make it cost effective and speedy implementation.

A 3-tier quality monitoring system will be put in place. The project implementing unit (PIU) at district level will have first tier of quality check. The second tire will be an independent quality monitor at the State level and the third level of quality checking will be done by independent national quality monitors. The roads will be developed to 5.5 metre width, said Chief Engineer (Roads) OP Patel.

The OSRPCA which has been constituted recently has the objective to provide seamless road connectivity in the Left Wing Extremists affected areas of the State. The agency assesses the ground level road requirements through district units. The sanctioned road projects have been sent for approval of the Central Government.