Kolkata, 11 December (H.S.) :

A total of 620 new roads have been approved for construction in West Midnapore district after citizens raised demands directly before Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee through the ‘Sarashori Mukhyomontri’ (Direct Communication with the Chief Minister) programme. With this approval, extensive road-development work under the fourth phase of the Pathashree scheme is set to begin in the district. According to the district administration, the Chief Minister will lay the foundation stone for all the approved roads on a single day, though the date has not yet been finalized.

Nirmal Ghosh, Working President of the Zilla Parishad, said that the roads approved were specifically those requested by citizens during their direct telephonic conversations with the Chief Minister. “Funds have already been sanctioned for all the road projects. Tender processes for most of the roads are complete, and the remaining are underway. The Chief Minister will inaugurate all these roads across the district,” he added.

As per the official data, road construction under Pathashree Phase-IV will take place at three administrative levels:

At the block level: 274 roads

Under the Zilla Parishad: 164 roads

Under WBSRDA: 182 roads

This brings the total number of sanctioned road projects to 620. Of these, the Zilla Parishad will construct 143 out of its allotted 164 roads, while the WBSRDA will construct 134 out of its 182 projects. The total length of newly constructed roads across the district is estimated to be about 450 kilometres.

The highest number of approvals at the block level has been granted to the Ghatal block, which received sanction for 33 roads. Being a perennial flood-prone region, Ghatal generated the maximum number of public requests. However, when all three levels are combined, Keshiary block tops the list with 66 approved road projects — the highest in the district.

Saumitra Sinharay, Zilla Parishad member from Daspur-II block and a Trinamool Congress leader, said that such a large-scale approval for road construction has never been seen before in the district. Similarly, Ghatal Panchayat Samiti Vice-Chairman Bikash Kar stated that the tender process for the 33 sanctioned roads in Ghatal has already begun and that the new construction will help restore severely damaged roads in flood-affected areas, providing long-term relief to local residents.

According to district Trinamool sources, the Chief Minister may lay the foundation stone for all the projects later this month.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh