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| Address land disputes in building roads: Survey |
| Press Trust of India / New Delhi Jul 02, 2009, 13:19 IST |
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Critical of huge gaps in the development of infrastructure, the Economic Survey today asked government to address the issues of disputes in land acquisition, rehabilitation, and problems of law and order in states, systematically.
"There are still significant gaps that need to be bridged ... The implementation of NHDP has been faced with a number of constraints that include delays in land acquisition and removal of structures, ... Law and order problems in states and poor performance of some contractors," the pre-Budget Survey tabled in Parliament cautioned.
Even though the national highways comprise only 2 per cent of the total length of roads, they account for about 40 per cent of the total traffic and the National Highways Development Project (NHDP), implemented by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), remains mired in problems.
It says only 11,037 km of NH out of 33,639 km under NHDP could be four-laned as on March 31, 2009, while the award of civil works is yet to be given for 16,412 km.
"Phase I & II of NHDP envisaged 4/6 laning of about 14,330 kilometeres of national highways, at a total estimated cost of Rs 65,000 crore. These two phases consist of the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ)...Nearly 98 per cent works on GQ have been completed by March 2009 and the NS and EW corridors are expected to be completed by December 2009," the Survey said.
The NHDP's various phases will be implemented at an estimated cost of Rs 2,27,146 crore.
As regards rural roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), the Survey said of the Rs 41,347 crore investment projected on constructing rural roads under the 11th Five-Year Plan, Rs 25,780 has been spent in the initial two years.
"Under PMGSY, the limited absorption capacity of states in terms of the number of programme implementation units (PIUs) at district level and at the State Rural Roads Development Agencies constrained the programme initially, but could be mitigated gradually," the Survey mentions.
Other problems faced included shortage of contractors in states and limited skilled manpower in departments like Rural Engineering Services, Rural Works Departments, Zila Panchayat Engineering Units and the Panchayati Raj Engineering Departments, it said.
About the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for the North-Eastern Region (SARDP-NE), it said the likely completion date for Phase A, comprising improving 2,619 km of roads including 2,029 km of NH, is likely to be completed by 2012-13. Phase B involves two-laning 4,825 km.
Stressing that increased spending on infrastructure results in large multiplier effects, the report mentions, "...Timely implementation of projects is critical for ensuring their financial viability."
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