5,500 kms of roads approved in Maoist-affected areas: Minister

New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) The government has sanctioned around 5,500 km of national highways and state roads for improvement of road connectivity in Maoist-hit areas in eight states, Parliament was informed on Thursday.

The government had in 2009 approved a Road Requirement Plan (RRP) for Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas of 34 districts in eight states - Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana), Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh.

"Original RRP envisages development of 5,565 km length of national highways and state roads to two lane at a cost of Rs 7,300 crore," Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Mansukh L. Mandaviya told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

"As per proposals received from state PWDs based on site requirement, a length of 5,422 km was sanctioned for Rs 8,585 crore," he said.

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