Uttar Pradesh Rural Road Development Agency

Department of Rural Development Government of uttar pradesh

The spirit and objective of UPRRDA-I was to provide good all-weather road connectivity to eligible unconnected habitations. The unit of this programmed is a habitation and not a revenue village or a Panchayat. A habitation is a cluster of population, living in an area, the location of which does not change over time. Desam, Dhanis, Tolas, Majras, Hamlets, etc. are commonly used to describe habitations.

The population, as recorded in the Census 2001, shall be the basis for determining the population size of the habitation. The population of all Habitations within a radius of 500 metre (1.5 km of path distance in case of Hills) may be clubbed together to determine the population size. In the blocks bordering international boundary in the hill States (as identified by the Ministry of Home Affairs), however, all habitations within a path distance of 10 km may be treated as a cluster for this purpose. This cluster approach would enable the provision of connectivity to a number of Habitations, particularly in Hill/ mountainous areas.

A special dispensation has been allowed to Arunachal Pradesh under PMGSY by extending the Cluster approach to all International border districts in the State by clubbing population with the path distance of 10 km and treating as a Cluster.

Unconnected habitations are listed as per the priority (generally, habitations with a higher population, as per 2001 Census, would be connected first) and depending upon the funds likely to be made available for the State, the list of road works to be taken up under UPRRDA-I will be finalized each year by the District Panchayat through a consultative process involving Panchayati Raj Institutions and elected representatives.

The objective of UPRRDA-I was to provide road connectivity to unconnected habitations as mentioned in response to Question 1 above. Any proposal for road connectivity may be perceived as per the programme guidelines.

A simple, non-formal transect walk shall be organised by the Assistant Engineer at the time of preparation of DPRs to finalise the alignment. The Panchayat Pradhan, local patwari, the JE, Local Revenue and Forest officials, Women PRI members and representatives of Women Self Help Groups (SHGs) also participate in the transect walk to determine the most suitable alignment, sort out the issues of land availability and to moderate any adverse social and environmental impact, eliciting necessary community participation in the programme. After transect walk, the minutes should be placed and approved by the Grama Sabha.Local people including those likely to be affected by proposed alignment are also allowed to put forth their view in this process.

An all-weather road is one that is negotiable in all seasons of the year. This implies that the road-bed is drained effectively but this does not necessarily imply that it should be paved surface with blacktopping or cement concrete. A gravel road can also be an all-weather road.

Road portions passing through built-up residential areas are prone to damages caused by wastewater from households. Programme guidelines provide for the construction of cement concrete pavement or cement/stone block pavements along with covered or uncovered Pucca side drains as per site conditions.

The objective of the UPRRDA is to provide an All-weather Road with necessary culverts and other cross drainage structures, which is operable throughout the year to the eligible unconnected habitations as per UPRRDA guidelines in the rural areas. Rural roads constructed under UPRRDA must have proper embankment and drainage. Adequate number and type of Cross Drainage (CD) works, including causeways, where appropriate, must be provided based on site requirements ascertained through necessary investigation. Minor bridges can be provided wherever necessary.

A necessary advisory has been already issued to the State Governments to include the culverts/CDs bridges along with the road proposals.

The proposal of long-span Bridges should be prepared as a separate DPR. However, such proposals of Bridges should be submitted with road proposals in the same batch.

Bridges on rivers/streams crossing the alignment of the road are taken up under the programme along with the road proposal. The Ministry issued UPRRDA-III guidelines increasing the span of Long-Span Bridges (LSBs) for funding under UPRRDA as follows:

• Up to 200 m in respect of Special Category States and LWE districts identified by the MHA.
• Upto 150 m in respect of other States.