J&K ranks 3rd among all States/UTs in completion of PMGSY roads

*Udhampur tops all districts

Govind Sharma

JAMMU, Apr 12: Jammu and Kashmir has ranked third among all States and Union Territories in implementation of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) during the financial year 2020-21 with Udhampur district bagging top position at national level in terms of completion of road network under the scheme.
As on April 9, 2021, the J&K has completed more than 3000 kilometres of road length, which is 90.47 percent of the target length. Against the target of 3500 kilometres of road length and connecting 177 habitations, the Jammu and Kashmir Rural Road Development Authority (JKRRDA) has completed 3166.76 kilometres of road length and connected 119 habitations by completing 320 schemes with an expenditure of Rs 1633 crore.
This is the best ever figures of J&K in last five financial years in terms of achieving physical progress of roads under PMGSY. In the financial year 2019-20, the J&K had completed 214 schemes and connected 148 habitations by completing 1325.67 kilometres of road length by spending Rs 1324.12 crore.
Among all districts at national level, Udhampur district of Jammu Division has bagged the top position for achieving the target of road length. Udhampur district constructed roads of the maximum length of 560.49 km in 2020-21. Four more districts from Jammu and Kashmir have also figured in the list of PMGSY top performing 30 districts of the country. These include Rajouri (420.25 Km), Doda (335.71 Km), Kathua (297.79 Km) and Reasi (223.23 Km), all from Jammu province.
The PMGSY is a programme launched by the Union Government to provide connectivity to unconnected habitations as part of a poverty reduction strategy. Since the launch of PMGSY in the year 2000, Jammu and Kashmir has completed 2180 schemes and connected 1957 habitations by constructing roads of 14053.59 kilometres of length with an expenditure of Rs 7661.45 crore.
From the year 2001 to 2015, J&K Government completed 1024 PMGSY schemes and linked 993 habitations by constructing 3641.82 kilometres of road network with an expenditure of Rs 2232.71 crore. In 2015-16, J&K constructed 707.20 kilometre of road length by spending Rs 305.23 crore and connected 85 habitations by completing 163 schemes.
In 2016-17, 1785.16 km road length was achieved and 238 habitations were connected by completing 89 schemes with an expenditure of Rs 428.30 crore while in 2017-18, 1804.54 km road length was achieved by completing 151 schemes and connecting 153 habitations with an expenditure of Rs 827.37 crore.
Similarly in 218-19, 226 schemes were completed and 221 habitations were connected while 1622.20 km of road length was achieved by spending Rs 910.72 crore. In 2019-20, 214 schemes were completed and 148 habitations were connected while road length of 1325.67 km was achieved with an expenditure of Rs 1324.12 crore.