Over 540-km roads only on paper, revised estimates saved state Rs160 crore: CM Mann

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann during the Punjab Vidhan Sabha session in Chandigarh on Tuesday.

Nearly 540 km of roads exist only on ‘paper’ in the state, and various concerned departments are paying fee for their recarpeting, repair and other works. This was revealed after mapping of state roads using a technology based on artificial intelligence (AI) and geographical information system (GIS).

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann disclosed the information during a debate in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha.

Mann said by using the technology, the state government has saved ₹163.26 crore merely in estimates of roads and it has been found that 540 km of roads do not even exist.

As per details, the Punjab Mandi Board conducted this exercise through GIS to measure its roads in villages.

Punjab has an approximate village link road network of 64,878 km. The Punjab Mandi Board (PMB) is the nodal agency for the above said roads, which are made/repaired by both the PMB and PWD (B&R).

During the updating of the data of village link roads in the state on the GIS, it was found that the actual length of the network was 64,340 km. Following this, state funds were saved by not floating tenders for road maintenance of 538 km roads.

Keeping in view the fact that the road maintenance cycle is of six years, this would mean that we have approximately 90 km less roads to repair each year. The cost of road repair is nearly ₹15 lakh per km, resulting in savings of ₹13.5 crore every year and overall ₹85 crore for 540 km of roads.

Similarly, AI was used to measure that the field staff exaggerated the estimates of repairs of roads. “By spending only ₹4.5 lakh in a pilot project in Rupnagar and Nawanshahar, it was found that exorbitant repair estimates were made earlier. By using AI, the state has so far saved ₹60 crore in two districts, and a proposal has been mooted to implement it in every district,” said a chief engineer, who conducted the AI estimation.

The chief minister said the state is introducing artificial intelligence in GST collection to check bogus billing. He said similarly artificial intelligence is also being introduced in departments like revenue, health, agriculture, PWD and others.

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