Zilla Panchayat CEO Prabhakar Sharma informed Deccan Herald that Zilla Panchayat has received Rs 5.76 crore for taking up road repair work besides constructing new roads under 13th Finance Commission.

However, Sharma said that the amount received is very meager to take up repair work in entire district. There is a need for not less than Rs 20 crore for this, he added.

Sharma said that Zilla Panchayat did not received any funds under 12th Finance Commission, 30-54 and 50-54 schemes, over the last two years.

About 8,661.31 kms road come under Zilla Panchayat in Udupi district. The first phase of work will comprise of filling the potholes and minor repairs which will be completed by end of December. However, complex repair work will be taken up only from January to March.

Sharma informed that a proposal has been sent to the government through the Executive Engineer of Panchayat Raj Engineering Division seeking additional funds of Rs 15 crore. The State government has agreed to sanction the amount, he added.

Panchayath Raj Engineering Division Executive Engineer Sridhar Murthy informed that the proposal for additional funds of Rs 15 crore was submitted to the government. “We approached Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda over the issue during his visit to the district last week. He has promised to release the amount shortly. We are expecting the funds by a week or 10 days as we have to complete the work on road repair by January 15,” he added.

The Zilla Panchayat has received Rs 1.5 crore under MLA’s funds for taking up the patch work. “As we had failed to maintain the roads in the last two years, the roads have been damaged badly in the district,” he added.