J-K announces launch of 'Macadamisation Program' for improvement of roads

Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu on Thursday announced the launch of a 'Macadamisation Program' for the improvement of roads across Jammu and Kashmir.

The announcement comes in the backdrop of grievances relating to the poor condition of roads and the problems connected thereto, presented before the Lieutenant Governor during his tours as a part of his outreach program, said the release by Department of information and public relation JK.

Murmu has approved a program for 100 percent macadamisation of all roads in the Union Territory including 11,000 km of fair-weather roads.

A Committee comprising of the Financial Commissioner (Finance), Principal Secretary (PW(R&B)), Secretary (Planning) and Secretary (Rural Development) has been constituted, which will prepare a roadmap and a financing plan for ensuring this program in a time-bound manner. The Committee has been directed to submit its report by August 10, stated the release.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Governor also announced a release of Rs 200 Crores to the Public Works Department as the first tranche so that the macadamisation work on priority roads can commence.

Prioritization of roads for macadamisation work will be done by a Committee at the District level, chaired by the Deputy Commissioner with the Executive Engineer, PWD and ACD as its members. The prioritization criteria will include when a road was last macadamized, whether it was part of the grievances presented before Lieutenant Governor during his outreach tours, the present quality of the road and other similar factors, it added.

( With inputs from ANI )