Madhya Pradesh Rural Connectivity project

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The development objective of the Madhya Pradesh Rural Connectivity Project for India is to improve durability and enhance resilience to climate changes of the gravel surfaced rural roads in Madhya Pradesh while building the capacity of the state to manage its rural road network and road safety. This project has four components. First component, road upgrading, construction, and maintenance. This component divides into two sub-component, (i) surface sealing of gravel roads, sealing the surface of eligible existing gravel surfaced roads developed under Chief Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana (CMGSY) using conventional Bituminous (BT) and other alternative options, piloting post construction maintenance through women self-help groups (SHG) in selected districts, providing SHGs with road maintenance training and hand tools; and (ii) provision of alternative connectivity, providing additional links to eligible villages which are already connected by a single road link but critically require additional connectivity to respond to the growing demand to link to more social, economic and administrative centers; Second component, institutional development. This component divides into two sub-component,(i) rural road asset management system, defining the system requirements and terms of reference (overall system architecture, data collection and analytical modules) and then procuring a road asset management system or such element required to upgrade the existing system, as needed to encompass the establishment of a complete inventory of the road network with all its elements, the current condition and performance of the road network, an estimate of the value of the asset, a forecast of future demand of traffic and service needs, an estimate of the maintenance needs and cost, a prioritization of the quality and performance objectives, funding scenarios for the regular and timely maintenance and upgrade of the road asset, the definition of a strategy for the maintenance of rural roads and its implementation; (ii) strengthening design and research and quality assurance capacity of Madhya Pradesh Rural Road Development Authority (MPRRDA). Supporting MPRRDA’s capacity by: (a) strengthening its design and research unit; (b) training design staff to enable them to do in-house design to support the field units and review consultants designs; (c) reviewing and updating the current rural road design standards and technical specifications; (d) reinforcing field laboratories in selected districts and training staff on laboratory and field tests; and (e) organizing study tours to share good examples of rural road design and research in India and abroad; Third component, road safety management capacity development. It has two sub-component, (i) road accident data management system and (ii) pilot comprehensive road safety program; Fourth component, design, implementation and management support, providing overall support to MPRRDA with respect to Project management, construction supervision and quality control and technical and financing audits, including by preparing cost effective, climate resilient engineering designs and related surveys and investigations; carrying out construction supervision of civil works and quality control; implementing independent monitoring of quality of design and works and contract compliance; and carrying out independent monitoring and assessments of safeguards, user satisfaction survey, compliance and the achievement of the Project outcomes.