Srinagar, Oct 11 (KNO): Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo Saturday chaired a review meeting of the Public Works Department (PWD) to assess the progress of road and bridge construction works being executed under various phases of the Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana (PMGSY) across J&K.
The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary, PWD; Development Commissioner (Works); Chief Engineers; and other senior officers of the department. All Deputy Commissioners participated through video conferencing.
At the outset, the Chief Secretary emphasized the critical importance of timely completion of road projects under PMGSY Phases I and II. He directed the concerned officers to make every possible effort to ensure the execution of all pending works within the stipulated timelines. He further instructed that clear responsibility be fixed in cases where works remain incomplete or unexecuted due to any avoidable reasons.
Underscoring the need for stronger on-ground supervision, the Chief Secretary called for the designation of senior officers to oversee the progress of PMGSY works on a regular basis. These officers, he directed, should undertake frequent site visits and ensure that site engineers maintain daily monitoring of both the quality and quantity of work being executed.
The Chief Secretary also directed that Executive Engineers and Assistant Executive Engineers be required to conduct regular field inspections, with their movements and site visits tracked and monitored at the highest levels within the department. He remarked that the role of engineers lies more in the field where the work is executed than in the confines of their offices.
During the meeting, the Chief Secretary reviewed the status of works taken up under later phases of PMGSY, seeking detailed information regarding projects sanctioned, completed, ongoing, and pending, along with their physical progress and expected dates of completion.
He also reviewed in detail the works proposed under PMGSY Phase IV, including those aimed at connecting vibrant villages in frontier areas. He took stock of the status of forest clearances required for several such road projects to ensure that procedural delays are minimized.
Providing a detailed overview, ACS, PWD, Anil Kumar Singh apprised the Chief Secretary about the department’s roadmap for completion of balance road and bridge works under various PMGSY phases. He informed that under Phase IV and its subsequent batches, the department has prioritized early execution and time-bound completion of projects across both divisions.
It was informed in the meeting that as of April 2025, 88 road projects under Phase I, 6 under Phase II, and 85 under Phase III were pending completion. Of these, 6 projects under Phase I and 40 under Phase III have since been completed, and a structured roadmap has been drawn to finish the remaining works within the shortest possible timeframe.
With regard to bridges, the meeting was informed that out of 305 bridges taken up under the first three phases of PMGSY, 227 have been completed, while 50 more are targeted for completion by March 2026.
As for Phase IV, it was revealed that 316 schemes have been sanctioned, out of which 3 projects are already under execution. The remaining 313 projects have been tendered out of which 134 are under technical evaluation, 87 under financial evaluation, and 39 for which Letters of Acceptance (LoA) have already been issued and will be taken up for execution shortly.
Reiterating the Government’s commitment to rural connectivity and infrastructure development, the Chief Secretary directed the PWD to ensure effective monitoring, strict adherence to quality standards, and timely completion of all sanctioned works under PMGSY across J&K—(KNO)