Government reviews work on bridges in Maoist-affected states

Union Home Secretary L.C. Goyal on Friday reviewed the status of 15 critical bridges being built in Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected states, asking officials to speed up completion due to their importance from the security point of view.

Goyal held a meeting with state chief secretaries and senior officers of union ministries concerned to discuss pending work under the Road Requirement Plan Phase-I (RRP-1) and the issues relating to the proposed RRP-2, an official release issued here said.

Of these 15 bridges, five are in Odisha, four in Jharkhand, two each in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh and one each in Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the statement said.

"The home secretary asked them to speed up the completion of work as the bridges are very important from the security as well as development angles and any delay will be a cause of concern for the ministry of home affairs," it added.

"The government is committed to address the LWE problem by focusing on four-pronged strategy, including security-related measures, developmental efforts, ensuring rights and entitlements of forest dwellers and management of public perception," the union home secretary told the officials.