Government prepares Rs 2,500-crore action plan for roads

Minister for Public Works Dr Mahadevappa, said on Thursday that the government has prepared a Rs2,500-crore action plan for the development of 1200-kilometre long roads in the state during the year 2014-15.

Replying to queries from members of the Assembly, Mahadevappa said the government has taken up the development of 10,448-km long roads by spending Rs6,628 crore during the year 2013-14.

"We have launched Road Information System (RIS) web portal to provide citizens with information on roads in the state. It is first of its kind in the country,'' Mahadevappa said.

The minister said the portal contains information about the date of construction, date of last repair, costs, amount of time taken for building or repairs as part of a new transparency initiative. He said RIS provides the history of the road and the number of times it has been repaired, and the duration needed to complete the work.

"Based on the information, the development of the road will be taken up,'' the minister said.

Mahadevappa also said the public works department (PWD) has also set up project maintenance system (PMS) to know the progress of the road projects.

"It will help us to know whether the road project is expected to be completed as per the schedule or not,'' the minister said.

To ensure transparency in tendering process, the PWD has constituted estimate committee, which would decide the cost of the project worth more than Rs5 crore.

"The public works department has also set up tender accepting committee to ensure transparency in tendering process,'' he said.

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