The Highways Department has begun work to upgrade a total of 1,538 km of rural roads in the State, providing a standard width of 3.75 m at a cost of ₹833 crore.

The work that is being carried out by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and the Rural Roads wing of the Department, will take six months to complete. In the Chengalpattu circle, a total of 348.643 km, in the Tirunelveli circle 355.529 km, in the Salem circle 415.078 km and in the Tiruchi circle 419.734 km are to be improved.

“The State government had announced in 2014 that 7,964 km of roads with the Rural Development Department would be taken over by the Highways for upgradation. And these works are part of that. Last year, we upgraded 1,400 km of roads,” explained an official source in the Highways.

About 30-40% of the works have already commenced and the rest will begin soon. As part of the upgradation, culverts and retaining walls will be repaired or reconstructed as the case demands.

Work in progress

“If the width the road is less, we will widen it to 3.75 m. Junctions with other roads will be improved and curves will be corrected to ensure safety of road users,” the official added.

After upgradation, the roads will be maintained by the Construction and Maintenance wing of the Highways. The upgradation was necessitated since the Department was not able to maintain them and did not have contractors who had the capacity to do so.