6,912 km of roads built in J&K in last 3 years, says Union Minister

Union Minister of State for Home, Nityanand Rai on Wednesday informed the Rajya Sabha that the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), has completed the construction of 6,912 Km of roads in Jammu Kashmir over the past three years.

“In a fiscal year with 92,560 works completed in 2022-23 in comparison to 9,229 in 2018-19. Government of India’s unstinted support in accelerating the pace of development in Jammu & Kashmir has resulted in the transformation of the UT on all fronts,” he said in a written reply as per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO).

The Year wise number of projects completed he said are 2018-19 9,229, 2019-20 12,637, 2020-21 21,943, 2021-22 50,726, and 2022-23 92,560.

“Under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), 6,912 Km road length stands constructed during the last three years,” he said, adding that 19,096 km of road has been black-topped during the last four years.

“Daily average rate of macadamization has increased from 8.57 Kms per day till 2019 to 15.75 Kms per day during 2023,” he said, adding that 302 bridges have been constructed during the last four years connecting the unconnected habitations.

“875 projects worth Rs. 3,639 Crore have been sanctioned under NABARD,” the Union Ministry said.

He said that the connectivity to valley has been subsequently improved by opening of 06 road tunnels on NH-44 including 8.45 Kms twin tube tunnel between Qazigund and Banihal thereby reducing average time from Jammu to Srinagar from 8-10 hours to 5-6 hours, thereby reducing logistic cost of goods and services to the valley.

“Under National Highway Development Programme, work on upgradation of 5 expressways, ring roads for Jammu and Srinagar cities, 10 major and 11 other tunnels, 33 flyovers, bypasses to 18 major towns is in progress.

He also said that the Government is fully committed to the overall development of the newly created Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and has taken several initiatives in this regard. “On account of article 370 and other constitutional ambiguities, the people of this region were denied full rights enshrined in the Constitution of India and other benefits of various Central Laws that were being enjoyed by other citizens in the country,” he added.

“After constitutional changes, all Central laws have been applied in UT of J&K, 205 state laws were repealed and 130 state laws have been modified and applied. First time in the history of the Jammu and Kashmir, duly elected 3-tier Panchayati Raj System has been established in the Union territory. Both the Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies have been empowered by transfer of Funds, Functions and Functionaries as prescribed under the 73rd and 74th Amendment of the Constitution. The UT of Jammu and Kashmir has focused on transparency in financial management by introducing a host of reforms and initiatives in recent years which resulted in an increase in the completion of projects,” he added—(KNO)