Panchayat Raj seeks withdrawal of 11 road projects in Asifabad

Panchayat Raj officials have sought withdrawal of 11 road project proposals in Kumram Bheem Asifabad, drawing criticism from residents of remote villages. The department cited instructions from higher authorities and the projects' failure to secure forest clearances

Kumram Bheem Asifabad: Officials from the Panchayat Raj received sharp criticism for seeking withdrawal of proposals for 11 road projects from PARIVESH (Pro-Active and Responsive facilitation by Interactive, Virtuous, and Environmental Single-window Hub), a single-window portal and online platform of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) for giving environmental, forest and wildlife clearances.

Public representatives of both the BJP and Congress often accuse officials from the forest department of hindering the development process in remote areas by denying permissions to create road and bridge facilities located in the forest areas in different parts of the district. They allege that the forest officials were rejecting the clearances causing inconvenience to residents of the interior village.

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However, contrary to these allegations, the PR officials submitted requests to withdraw the proposals of 11 key road projects at the final stage of the clearance process. Sources said that the department was unwilling to bear the cost involved in mitigation measures meant for protection of the environment, forest, and wildlife. Their move has sparked criticism from residents of the interior villages.

As per data provided by the forest officials, the proposals requested for withdrawal included a black top road from Jhaduguda to Kishanthanda in Kerameri mandal, a road in Naguguda of Tiryani mandal, a stretch to Gundala via Doddiguda, a road to Alliguda of Keremari, from Karji to Motlaguda in Dahegaon, Gangapur-Korsini of Chintalamanepalli, Etiguda-Talai, Karjelli-Motlaguda, Bejjur-Somini in Bejjur.

Significantly, some of these projects got conditional permission at stage-1 level after uploading the proposals on the portal. The user agencies or executing departments should have to pay Net Present Value (NPV) and the cost of compensatory afforestation to obtain further permissions. They need to submit a compliance report agreeing to adhere to stipulated environmental and wildlife conditions at each stage.

The move of the PR officials is likely to affect the connectivity of the interior villages. Residents from the villages expressed disappointment, saying that the withdrawal of the proposals would leave them isolated and deprive them of basic transportation facilities. They urged the officials to revive the projects and improve access to the external world.

When asked, Panchat Raj Executive Engineer Dharmendar clarified that the proposals were withdrawn as per instructions of higher authorities after a team of officials from the MoEFCC-Chennai visited the sites of the project and did not approve the roads. As projects failed to secure clearances at stage I and II, the department decided to cancel them, he explained.