4,956 habitations in State yet to get road connectivity

4,956 habitations in State yet to get road connectivity

• Of these, 420 are from Vidarbha including as many as 321 in Naxal-affected Gadchiroli district  alone

By Kartik Lokhande

Maharashtra is a progressive state. It has got express-way, sea-link, broad roads to boast of. And, plans are afoot to have multiple-lane roads to connect major industrial and commercial cities. However, there are still 4,956 habitations across the State that have got no road connectivity, thus depriving the population there of the basic amenity.

And, this figure is not derived by any of the activists. In fact, this is the authentic figure from the records of Government of Maharashtra. In a review meeting held recently at Nagpur immediately after winter session of State Legislature, this data came to fore. As per the data, of these 4,956 unconnected habitations, 401 have population up to 500, 608 have population between 300 and 399, 640 have population size between 250 and 299, 803 have population of 200-249, 1,910 have population size between 100 and 199, and 594 have less than 100 population. One can understand that the State may not reach up to the remotest geographical corners within a short span of time.

Considering that Maharashtra came into existence in 1960, 52 years is no less a time to get all habitations connected. However, it appears that Maharashtra has failed in ensuring that. Of a total 4,956 unconnected habitations, as many as 1,590 are in Ahmednagar district alone. It is followed by Kolhapur with 915 unconnected habitations, Sangli with 460 such habitations, Gadchiroli with 321, and Satara with 252 such habitations.

Interestingly, of these ‘top five’ districts in number of unconnected habitations, Satara is home-district of current Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan; Sangli is home-district of three senior ministers namely Forest Minister Dr Patangrao Kadam, Home Minister R R Patil, and Rural Development Minister Jayant Patil; Ahmednagar is home-district of Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat, Agriculture Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, and Tribal Development Minister Babanrao Pachpute. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Patil, Labour Minister Hasan Mushrif, and Minister of State for Home and FDA Satej Patil are from Kolhapur district.

Barring Gadchiroli, other districts in Vidarbha that have got no road connectivity include Akola-- 16, Buldhana-- 39, Chandrapur-- 05, Wardha-- 12, Washim-- 08, Yavatmal-- 19. Nagpur, Amravati, Bhandara, Gondia districts are blessed as they do not have any unconnected habitation as per the records.

Gadchiroli is the only district among these five that has got neither a minister nor connectivity to 321 habitations. The case of Gadchiroli is a peculiar one. Every one of the ministers or elected representatives express concern for Gadchiroli’s development, everybody highlights Naxal menace in the district, but it appears from the data that it has been a victim of neglect for long years. Once, Border Roads Organisation had constructed very good quality of roads reaching out to most of the villages. However, with Border Roads Organisation shifting its base elsewhere, the condition of even existing roads in Gadchiroli district has deteriorated. And, 321 habitations are yet unconnected.

Unconnected habitations in Vidarbha

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District        Unconnected habitations

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Gadchiroli         321

Buldhana           39

Yavatmal           19

Akola                16

Wardha             12

Washim             08

Chandrapur      05

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Total               420

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 Naxal menace affecting road devpt in Gadchiroli

The road development in Gadchiroli has suffered mainly because of Naxal menace. According to an official note, for 26 major works there was no response from contractors. These included 11 works in Bhamragarh tehsil, 10 in Etapalli, and five in Dhanora tehsil. Sources said that the contractors were not ready to work in these three blocks because of killing of three contractors on Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) roads in August 2009 and November 2009. When the administration offered security cover, the contractors refused that also and said that they were not ready to work in these sensitive areas that have seen violent activities of Naxalites. As a next step, the administration downgraded class of contractor to encourage local contractors, relaxed the condition of ownership of hotmix plant, exempted Earnest Money Deposit at the time of tendering, and gave time relaxation in recovery of advance. Even the Gram Panchayats were encouraged to execute unskilled work like earth work, murrum blanketing etc. But, facing threat from Naxalites, the Gram Panchayats also did not respond.