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Chandigarh, Oct 31 (IANS) Punjab Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddiyan on Friday said the CM Flying Squad, formed by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to ensure best quality of roads being repaired and upgraded by the Punjab Mandi Board, Public Works Department, is monitoring the ongoing upgrading and repair work of rural link roads across the state.
The monitoring is part of the state government’s project to upgrade and repair 19,491 km of link roads at a cost of Rs 4,150 crore.
Affirming that the finest quality materials are being used to lay, upgrade and repair the roads, the Agriculture Minister issued a warning that strict action will be taken against any contractor compromising the quality of the materials.
He said CM Flying Squad teams are actively on the ground and have already covered seven districts – Faridkot, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Tarn Taran, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Jalandhar, Patiala and Gurdaspur.
He said that there are a total of 30,237 link roads in the state with a total length of 64,878 km, 33,492 km are under the Punjab Mandi Board and 31,386 km are under the Public Works Department.
Minister Khuddiyan said the state government is now launching a project to repair and upgrade 7,373 link roads with a total length of 19,491.56 kilometres.
The project will cost Rs 4,150.42 crore, which includes five years of maintenance, he said, adding that Rs 3,424.67 crore will be spent on repairs and upgrades while Rs 725.75 crore will be spent on five years of maintenance.
The minister said the artificial intelligence survey conducted for these roads resulted in savings of Rs 383.53 crore.
He said that to ensure public safety during fog or dark conditions, a special road safety project is being implemented on repaired and upgraded link roads at a cost of Rs 91.83 crore.
The minister said three-inch wide white stripes will be painted on both sides of the link roads to make travel safe during fog or darkness.
–IANS
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