62 PMGSY Projects Shelved In Odisha Due To Land & Legal Hurdles

Bhubaneswar : As many as 62 projects have been dropped from the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) due to land acquisition and other legal hurdles in Odisha. As a result, the State will stand to lose central funds to the tune of Rs 45 crore.

As per reports, these projects under the Rural Development department had not made any headway while majority of them were pending since the year 2000.

Senior officials of the Rural Development department informed that most of the major projects impinge on forest land or wildlife sanctuaries. Similarly, other projects have been entangled in legal hurdles.

“The projects under PMGSY phase 1 and phase 2 have been dropped due to land acquisition, forest clearance and other hurdles,” said C.M. Patnaik, executive engineer, PMGSY.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Centre is now gearing up for the phase-III of the PMGSY and permission has been accorded for the construction of nearly 9,000 km of roads in Odisha.