Ranchi, Oct. 16: Rural development department officials are likely to pitch for the construction of around 1,845 new roads in the hinterlands of Jharkhand during their meeting with Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, scheduled for October 17. The proposal, which will be formally made by deputy chief minister Sudesh Mahto, comes in the wake of Ramesh’s visit last Saturday when he asked for detailed reports on rural habitations which had not been brought under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana despite fulfilling requisite criteria. Ramesh had promised to take necessary action at the next meeting. Mahto, who also heads the state rural development department, maintained that of the proposed roads, 318 would pass through villages with a population of 1,000 or more, 485 through villages with 500 people and the remaining 1,042 would cut through villages where at least 250 people were living. “The total length of all these roads would be around 8222.94 kilometres, with the approximate construction cost pegged at Rs 30 lakh for each. Earlier, I had spoken in this regard with the Prime Minister, who gave me positive assurances. About a fortnight ago, a team of experts from the Centre too visited Jharkhand. The work that we have put in the last six months is finally showing results. It will be a great achievement for the state,” Mahto said. Interestingly, the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana was introduced in 2001, with the Centre opening its coffers for the state the next year. Initially, it was to be implemented in around 10,006 villages, with an estimated 17,532km of road being paved. Also, an integrated action plan was introduced in 2006 for 14 Naxalite affected districts of the state. But, there was no significant progress at the ground level till two or three years ago due to a plethora of reasons. However, the groundwork gained momentum after repeated raps from the Centre and bitter criticism from various other quarters. The state now has entered the ninth phase of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. The minister confirmed that paving 5,138 roads that had been already approved, spread over 7526km, had been completed while the construction work for 3,119 others, measuring over 6,850km, were progressing steadily in the ninth phase. Work on a total of 1,749 roads, measuring 2,976km, remained to be started and would be taken up in the tenth phase. “Funds for the remaining roads have already been approved and will be released in the next few weeks. We will initiate the groundwork in the current fiscal. This apart we will upgrade a total of 9,562km of road under the Centre’s scheme, for which we will demand funds. Detailed project reports for 53 bridges and culverts is also ready,” Mahto said. During his visit to Delhi, Mahto is also likely to meet Union water resources minister Pawan Kumar Bansal with a request to release funds for the Subernarekha Multi-purpose Project. The deputy chief minister also intends to carry out an extensive survey of forested villages, which ought to have road connectivity, a point that Ramesh had agreed to during his Ranchi visit and had hinted at amendment of the existing Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana rules if need be. “If I ask the forest department to submit a report on forested villages which are inaccessible, the names of 50-60 villages are likely to crop up. I know of 60 such villages in my Assembly constituency alone that needs proper roads. A fresh survey is needed as 33 per cent of the state’s geographical area is covered by forests,” Mahto, who also heads the water resources and forest and environment departments, said.