Rajasthan CM lays foundation stone for ₹1,500 crore road infrastructure projects

Stressing on maintenance of the quality of the roads along with construction of new roads, Gehlot announced the formation of an independent committee to regularly monitor the quality of new roads

Jaipur: Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday laid foundation stone for road development projects worth ₹1,528 crore in 232 urban bodies across the state, where crucial assembly elections are scheduled for later this year.

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said his government was committed to the vision of making Rajasthan one of the leading states in the country. (HT Archives)

On the occasion, Gehlot said his government was committed to the vision of making Rajasthan one of the leading states in the country.

“If not the first, Rajasthan will precisely be one of the top states in India in road construction and developments by 2030,” he said while virtually addressing the event.

As part of the development projects, the government will spend ₹1,528 crore on construction and development of 2,642-km roads across the state.

Stressing on maintenance of the quality of the roads along with construction of new roads, Gehlot announced the formation of an independent committee to regularly monitor the quality of new roads.

“The presence of an independent party for monitoring the road development works will make sure that the quality of the roads is not compromised,” he said. “It will also avert any corruption from the contractors’ sides.”

Referring to the death of a 17-year-old boy in Sikar after falling into the open pit of a manhole, Gehlot said, “Such negligence from the municipalities will not be tolerated. Rajasthan records around 10,000 accidents every year due to the poor condition of the road. This is an alarming situation. We have to make sure such an incident doesn’t happen in future.”

Preventing such incidents in the long term, CM also announced that a Centre of Excellence for Road Building and Construction worth ₹55 crore will be set up in Jaipur. “We have also identified around 365 black spots across the state which will be under special surveillance. The defect liability period for the road construction was also increased to five years from three years. An integrated traffic management system will also be installed in those areas,” he added.