Tenders floated to revamp Hoshiarpur’s rural roads
HOSHIARPUR: Nearly after a decade, rural roads in the district are finally going to get a facelift. Of the approximately 4,000-km link roads, a 567-km dilapidated section would be thoroughly revamped, while 828 km would be put under minor repair. The Public Works Department (PWD) has floated tenders worth `88 crore to execute these works.
PWD executive engineer Ramtesh Bains claimed that the repair work would be completed by the end of November.
Ideally, link roads connecting the villages to the main roads need major repair every five years. However, in the district most of the roads have not got any attention since 2005 as the government failed to allocate any funds to the PWD and this vital aspect of infrastructure has remained ignored.
Sources in the district administration said that rural development funds would be utilised to carry out the repair work.
Resentment has been brewing in villagers over lack of infrastructure of which roads are a major component. It is learnt that the MLAs, who had been facing the flak from their constituents, had pressed the government to fix the problem ahead of the next assembly elections.
The department has included only those roads in the estimate which have been selected by the ruling party leaders, sources reveal.
“We will spend ` 74 crore on special repair and ` 14 crore on minor patch work. The government proposes to make all link roads pothole-free and has asked for estimates,” said Bains.
› We will spend `74 crore on special repair and `14 crore on minor patch work. The government proposes to make all link roads free of potholes and has asked for estimates. RAMTESH BAINS, PWD executive engineer