In a major move aimed at facilitating people, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Tuesday directed the officers to construct 13400 kilometres of link roads at a cost of Rs 2436.49 crore.
Chairing a meeting here today, the Chief Minister said that these Link Roads act as a catalyst in commuting of besides smooth transportation of the goods and services to people. He said that these link roads give impetus to the economic growth of the state and facilitate the people residing in rural areas. Bhagwant Singh Mann underlined the need for construction of these roads as majority of them have remained unattended even after passing their life of six years.
The Chief Minister said that these roads must be constructed by categorising them as top priority, priority and needy roads so that people can be benefitted from it. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that an on ground survey for the need based and priority wise construction of these roads must be ensured. He asked the PWD and Mandi Board authorities to ensure that every single penny is spent judiciously on the construction of these roads.
The Chief Minister said that the state government has decided to give a major facelift to the link road infrastructure by widening, strengthening and upgradation of these rural link roads across the state. He said that keeping in view the importance of this road network to facilitate the people, the state government has taken this decision. Bhagwant Singh Mann asked the Punjab Mandi Board and PwD to ensure high quality of the work besides ensuring that every penny allocated for that project was invested in a justified manner.
The Chief Minister also said that the technology of ‘Artificial Intelligence’ should be used for need based construction of the rural roads in the state. He said that this step will ensure optimum use of the existing resources of the state along with ensuring top quality work on rural roads. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that this technique will revolutionise the construction work on roads by saving a lot of public money.