Centre clears Rs 1079 cr road, bridge proposals of Odisha

The Centre has cleared Odisha government's proposals of constructing roads and bridges worth Rs 1078.72 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
"The Pre-Empowered Committee of the ministry has approved construction of 347 road works with a length of 1205 Km connecting 396 habitations at a cost of Rs 595.72 crore, under ADB batch," Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh informed Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in a letter.
Similarly, the construction of 140 long-span missing bridges proposed on roads constructed under earlier batches of PMGSY at a cost of Rs 483 crore has also been sanctioned by the committee, he stated.

Expressing concern over the effective implementation of projects under PMGSY, Ramesh has asked the state government to increase the number of Project Implementation Units (PIUs) to 70 by September, 2013.
He pointed out that Odisha presently has only 50 PIUs which are executing projects worth Rs 5000 crore. Addition of PIUs would help effective implementation of additional projects.
Ramesh also expressed concern over quality of work being undertaken in the state. "National Quality Monitors says that 25 per cent unsatisfactory works have been reported in ongoing projects in Odisha," he said suggesting that the state government focus on the work through State Quality Monitors.