Lok Sabha Question No. 882 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-07
Subject: PMGSY-III in Kerala
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Thomas Chazhikadan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 882 ANSWERED ON 07/02/2023

## PMGSY-III IN KERALA

## 882. SHRI THOMAS CHAZHIKADAN:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the steps taken by the Union Government for the completion of the entire length of 1425 kms of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)-III roads allocated to the State of Kerala;
- (b) whether some portion of the work is yet to begin as it is proposed with a surface dressing;
- (c) whether it has come to the notice of the Union Government that the road construction contractors in Kerala are not equipped with necessary machinery and are not familiar with such a technology; and
- (d) if so, the course of action from the Union Government to carry on the work and ensure its timely completion?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)

- (a)     The State of Kerala has been allocated target of 1,425 Km road length under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)-III, against which the State has so far been sanctioned 686.232  Km . Out  of  total  sanctioned  length,  71.74  Km  has  already  been  completed.   The implementation period of PMGSY-III is upto March, 2025. The Ministry has been constantly following-up with the State Government for submission of proposals, which conform to the guidelines, for the balance length.
- (b)  to  (d)  Rural  roads  under  PMGSY  are  constructed  and  maintained as  per  the  technical specifications  and  geometric design standards  given in  the Ministry of  Rural  Development Specifications  for  Rural  Roads,  Rural  Roads  Manual  of  the  Indian  Roads  Congress  (IRC) (IRC-SP:20) and also, where required, the Hill Road Manual (IRC:SP:48) and other relevant IRC Codes & Manuals. As per IRC: SP:72-2015, which is meant for design of low volume rural roads, Surface Dressing (SD) is recommended as surface course for rural roads designed for  cumulative  Equivalent  Single-Axle Load  (ESAL)  repetition  up to 3,00,000 (T5) categories.  Surface  dressing  can  also  be  adopted  for  traffic  category  up  to  T9  as  per  Para 7.3.3 of IRC: SP:72-2015. Surface dressing is suitable for all climatic/ rainfall conditions as per IRC: SP:72-2015.

The State of Kerala has been sanctioned 58 road works of 251.209 Km using surface dressing technology. The choice of surface dressing for rural roads in Kerala has been made as per the traffic category of the roads, as specified in IRC code. As reported by the State Government, of  the  sanctioned  projects  under  surface  dressing,  53  road  works  of  227.116  Km  stand awarded. Agreement for the awarded works was executed from April, 2022 to August, 2022 and the works are reaching the base course layer.

Execution  of  works  under  PMGSY  is  discussed  with  State  Governments  during  various review  meetings.  Also  training  programmes/  webinars  have  been  conducted  for  States, Programme Implementation Units (PIUs) and contractors from time to time. Recently, during International  Conference  on  New  Technologies  and  Innovations  in  Rural  Roads  held  from 24-26  May,  2022  in  New  Delhi,  a  booklet  has  been  published  and  circulated  to  States  on surface dressing covering the execution process/ methodology in detail. PMGSY had adopted new technologies in construction of rural roads, and for this purpose, suitable hand-holding is provided to the states.

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