20k cr to be spent for village development

Amaravati: The Panchayat Raj department is going to spend not less than Rs 20,000 crore in this financial year. Out of the total estimated amount, Rs 3,500 crore will be spent on to provide link roads to villages having more than 250 population. These works include 40 percent CC roads and 60 percent BT roads, explained Panchayat Raj minister Nara Lokesh.

Revealing the details of the proposed development works under his department for this year in a press conference at Secretariat on Wednesday, Lokesh said the Chief Minister has directed to complete the link roads for all villages having more than 100 residents within two years and tribal areas by three years.

Under this, he said the department is mandated to complete about 4,000 roads this financial year.Apart from laying new link roads, the damaged roads also will be renovated, he added. The minister said these roads will be given to contractors with good track record andworks will be monitored on real time basis.

Through Water Grid project, he said the government was aimed to provide drinking water to all the households in the state. The Rs 22,000 crore works under the project will commence within a month in Rayalaseema and on annuity model in Nellore, he said. The Krishna and West Godavari district works will be taken under EPC basis andtenders will be called for rest of districts by August-end, Lokesh said and expressed confidence by 2022, there will be no drinking water problem in the state.

Quality monitoring will be tested on real time basis by installing sensors, he said and added a water room will be established in Secretariat for the purpose.He said 103 clusters, which were facing fluoride problem, would be provided safe drinking water under the NTR SujalaSravanti.
Lokesh said sanitation at villages will be given top priority and the Chief Minister directed for impact study on ODF status in the state.

Soak pits will come up in every village having less than 2,000 population and CC drainages will be constructed in the villages having more than 2,000 population. Government targeted to construct about 7,500 kms of underground drainage system (UGD) in the rural areas in the state, he said and added within two weeks, UGD should be completed from the start of work.

The Panchayat Raj department is aimed to generate wealth-from-waste at 12,918 GPs and 17,000 community toilets need to be completed.Under the MGNERGA,the government ensured 11.75 crore man days within two-and-half months. The state government suggested the Centre to link the MGNREGA with agriculture and will submit requests to a committee constituted by Union government on it under the leadership of Madhya Pradesh Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhan.

By December-end, 31 lakh LED streetlights will be installed across the state and 8 lakh old bulbs will be replaced. Already, East Godavari became first district in the country with cent percent LED streetlights.

Unique door number will be given by October 2 with unique QR code for every household, he said and added Naidu directed him to ensure 12,000 GPs from the state must achieve top rankings in the country. Stating that the villages were developed under the TDP only, he claimed during the Congress regime, Rs 4,000 crore material returned as they could not spend on it.