Roads worth Rs 10,700 cr in red corridors

Union Government to take road projects on "mission mode"

Ministry of road transport and highways will launch road requirement plan (RRP) phase-2 in the pockets affected by the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) and had planned to build about 7300 kms of road in the red zone.

"The cost of the road projects would be around Rs 10,700 crore," union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari said. Under the RRP phase-2 project, 7294 kms of roads including 48 bridges would be constructed (in the pockets where Naxalites has a strong presence), he said.

The union minister earlier chaired a high level meeting attended by two chief ministers and road transport ministers of six states affected by the Naxal violence.

Besides Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das attended the meeting along with representatives from Odisha, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

"The only agenda of the meeting was to discuss the measures about restoration road connectivity in the red corridors," Gadkari said, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi believed that to solve the Naxal problem, road network was required. The minister added that the project would be put on "mission mode" as advised by the Prime Minister to speed up its execution.

The representatives of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) combating the red army gave presentation and suggestions in the meeting for implementing the road construction projects in the insurgency-hit areas. "We are also seeking assistance from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Military Intelligence for the projects," Gadkari added.

The ministry is also working on the plan to use pre-cast and pre-fabricated structures for executing the projects in the disturbed areas. Gadkari said new technology would be put in use and the officials had been asked to examine all possible options. The projects would be taken up in coordination with the ministry of home affairs.

In the first phase of RRP, roads construction projects were taken up in 34 districts. Of the target 5477 kms road, work on 3200 kms has been completed. "The construction work of remaining roads would be completed in 2015," Gadkari said.