Bhubaneswar, June 11: Odisha, which claims to have achieved second position among the states for implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in 2016-17, has set a target to add 7,000 km concrete roads in the state this year.

The steering committee, chaired by chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi yesterday, decided to connect all the villages in the state by concrete roads under this scheme.

The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana is a flagship programme of the central government, which aims to connect all villages by concrete roads. Under the scheme, the Centre funds 60 per cent of the project cost, while the state bears the remaining 40 per cent.

Engineer-in-chief of the state rural development department said road projects to connect 16,555 villages had been sanctioned so far. By May 2017, 13,976 villages had been connected by concrete roads.

Departmental secretary Bishnupada Sethy said a target has been set to connect all the remaining villages of the state by end of 2019. Padhi had asked the officials to build 7,000km roads during 2017-18.

An official source said 5,797km concrete roads were built in the state during 2016-17, for which Odisha was in the second position among the states for implementation of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Chief engineer Bharat Chandra Pradhan said another scheme for upgrade of roads, apart from Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, was also implemented in the state.

The detailed project reports for construction of 1,619km roads have been sent to the Centre for approval. Padhi instructed officials to submit proposals for construction of additional 4,263km roads by July 15.

In a meeting convened by the chief secretary on Friday, it was informed Rs 17,092 crore had been spent on the construction of 41,010km roads and 445 bridges had been built under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Moreover, Rs 1096 crore was allotted for construction 7,000km roads during 2017-18 so that 214 villages could be connected by roads under the scheme.

Padhi directed engineers and officials to study the condition of the existing roads built under the scheme and look into their proper maintenance.

Development commissioner R. Balakrishnan advised the officials to prepare a priority list for the maintenance of the roads based on their actual status.

Adoption of green technology in the construction of roads was also discussed. Works secretary Nalinikanta Pradhan said these technologies were environment-friendly and helpful in speedy execution of the projects.