Assam: Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma says, Rs 22,000 cr road projects being implemented

Assam PWD Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said road projects to the tune of over Rs 22,000 crore are being implemented across Assam during the 2018-19 fiscal.

Sarma said the state government has begun repairing some of the national highways (NH), as it takes "inordinate delays", due to the "bureaucratic procedure" in sanctioning such work by the Centre. "For NH, everything has to be done through Delhi. When one paper goes there, it takes three months. It takes too long while following all the bureaucratic procedure.

That is why, we have started repairing many sites with our own funds," he said. In total, Assam will be spending Rs 22,160 crore on road projects during the current financial year, he said during a press conference here.

Out of these, projects of Rs 13,960.72 crore are currently being carried out, while new work amounting to Rs 8,200 crore will be taken up soon, Sarma informed. He said the existing state projects are related to the construction of bridges, repair of roads in tea gardens and for building new ones at various places.

"We will also launch a 15-year-long 'Assam Mala' programme, under which Rs 5,000 crore will be spent on building new roads and for widening and strengthening of existing roads," the minister said.

The new projects in the current fiscal will also include Rs 2,900 crore for construction of roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) across the state. "We have decided to carry out small works of repair on NH on our own and let them (Centre) do the bigger works of four-laning and six-laning," Sarma added.

(With inputs from agencies.)