Meagre Funds Cause Of Bad Roads in Mizoram

Aizawl, Jul 14 : The state public works department cited fund constraint as the prime cause behind poor road conditions in Mizoram.

"Fund for maintenance of roads, which is allocated from the state plan fund, is too meagre. That is the major cause that explains why the roads are in poor conditions here in the state," Liansanga, engineer-in-chief of works department, said at a press conference here today.

Liansang pointed out clarifications were required amidst mounting complaints regarding poor road conditions in almost every part of the state and added it was PWD that bore the blame.

Of the 6338 kilometres of road in Mizoram, 4732 kilometres accounted for state road maintenance of which required Rs 159 crore per year as per the ministry of road transport and highway norms.

Against this requirement, only a meagre Rs 5.77 crore were allocated during 2010-11 fiscal, the department head said.

The actual amount sanctioned by the Finance Commission for state road maintenance during 2010-2011 fiscal was Rs 32.56 crore. After diverting Rs 26.79 crores for other purposes, the state government released only Rs 5.77 crore to the PWD for road maintenance.

Moreover, the department had to spend Rs 1.02 crore for the salaries.

Therefore, the actual fund available for state road maintenance was only Rs 4.57 crore," Liansanga said, adding, "Despite such financial constraint, the department has been taking all-out efforts to keep the state roads in good condition." Overloaded trucks, according to the department, are another major cause of road damage in Mizoram, he pointed out.

The PWD top official claimed despite all these difficulties, the department has managed to maintain the state roads.

Fund for maintenance of national highways is directly received from the central government. The poor condition of the national highway 54 is mainly due to time constraint, as it was just handed over from the BRO to the state PWD, Liansanga said.

"The road was looked after by the BRO for two years after the central government’s order for its handing over to the state PWD.

During those two years, the road greatly deteriorated. Time has not permitted us to keep things rolling. We hope to start maintenance works from next dry season," Liansanga added.