Nirmala Bhuria breaks ground on Rs 55.35 crore Raipuria-Karwad road at Barwet

Cabinet Minister Nirmala Bhuria, who holds the Women and Child Development portfolio, formally launched work on the two-lane Raipuria-Jamli-Sarangi-Karwad road at Barwet village on Thursday, after performing the bhoomipujan rites.

The road is 23.70 km long and has been sanctioned at Rs 5,535.30 lakh, or about Rs 55.35 crore. Of the stretch, 20.755 km will be bituminous and 2.945 km cement concrete, with the concrete sections at Jamli and Barwet. The plan includes 53 bridges and culverts. The deadline for finishing the work is 18 months.

Bhuria said the Mohan Yadav government was working steadily to improve villages and basic amenities. In her view, roads underpin an area's growth because they widen chances in schooling, health care, agriculture, trade and jobs. The new road will meet the Thandla-Khawasa-Bamnia-Karwad-Ratlam road, which begins at Phoolmal, at Karwad, giving the region a direct link to Ratlam. Farmers will reach mandis more easily, milk producers can send out milk and dairy products with less trouble, and traders will find room to expand. Shorter travel times, a safer journey for people in many villages and a lift to the local economy were also promised.

She described the road as busy at all hours and asked villagers to cooperate when it is widened. She added that the government was committed to tribal areas and village infrastructure, and that roads, irrigation and other basic works were in progress across the Petlawad assembly constituency, along with efforts in education, health and women and child development. She hopes every anganwadi centre in the area will have its own building, and said public demands would get priority.

Ajmer Singh Bhuria thanked the minister for the development gift to the region. Agninarayan Singh Bodayta asked for the Petlawad-Deoli road to be widened and carried on to Rajod. Hemant Bhatt and mandal president Laxman Maliwad also spoke. Jagdish Prajapat asked for the Barwet sub-health centre to be raised to a primary health centre, saying residents of hundreds of villages across several panchayats must now go to other places for medical care.

Public Works Department executive engineer D.S. Gutharia and SDO Resham Gamad attended, as did Purushottam Patidar, Nilesh Patel, Jitendra Gehlot, Durgadas Motapala, Jayraj Bhatt, Pankaj Nimja, Suresh Sen and janpad member Kamma Vinod Meda. Several sarpanches, other public representatives, department staff and villagers were there too. Prajapat conducted the proceedings and mandal president Pappulal Gamad gave the vote of thanks.