The Himachal Pradesh government plans to connect all villages with population of at least 250 in the state by 2012.
About Rs 1,280 crore has been allocated in the current financial year for the construction of roads and bridges under various schemes. Most of the 17,449 villages of the state are scattered over slopes of hill ranges and valleys making it a challenging task to connect them by motorable roads.
Of the Rs 1,280 crore, Rs 479.6 crore is allocated from state head, Rs 400 crore under Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojna and World Bank projects, Rs 400 crore from state road projects on upgrading and periodical renewal of the state highways and major district roads.
According to the Himachal Road Connectivity Perspective Plan, the total road length in the state has crossed the 30,000-km mark.
Over 2,768 km motorable roads have been constructed in the state in the last one and a half year. Besides, cross drainage has been provided on 3,647 km, 1,504 km of road has been tarred, and annual surfacing has been completed on 2,167 km of road.
More than 500 villages in the state have been provided road connectivity between January 1, 2008, and June 30, 2009.
Recently, the landlocked Dodra Kawar area in the Shimla district was connected to the other regions by the commissioning of 61 km Larot-Kawar road.
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna aims to provide all-weather access to unconnected habitations across the country.
The scheme envisages connecting habitations in hill states (North-East, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand) and the desert areas (as identified in
the Desert Development Programme) as well as the tribal (Schedule V) areas, with a population of 250 and above.