By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Following months of uncertainty, the State Cabinet on Saturday finally decided to construct the Jorabat-Umiam four-lane road project on NH-40 through the Umsning Bypass.
The Cabinet also decided to undertake expansion of the existing highway passing through Umsning.
The decision taken during a Cabinet meeting held here on Saturday is expected to pacify the Ri-Bhoi based NGOs who have been demanding that the four-lane road should be constructed from the Umsning Bypass. Besides, it would also come as a huge relief to the people of the State who are reeling under massive traffic jams almost on a daily basis.
“The Cabinet has decided to construct the four-lane Guwahati-Shillong road from Umsning Bypass and to develop the existing road at Umsning in the best interest of the people of the State,” PWD Minister HDR Lyngdoh informed reporters after the meeting.
The State Government had, earlier, decided to construct the four-lane road through the Umsning Bypass but following opposition from some NGOs the State Assembly took a fresh decision to construct the road through the existing highway passing through Umsning. However, this decision was aggressively opposed by the JAC, a conglomerate of Ri-Bhoi NGOs, who even resorted to agitation to pressurize the Government to reconsider the decision.
Soon after the agitation, the State Government formed a panel to seek public opinion on the project. The panel report, however, failed to present any clear mandate of the people as public opinion was divided on the issue.
Meanwhile, Lyngdoh said that since the project has already been delayed the Government did not want to delay it any further.
According to the Detail Project Report (DPR) prepared by the NHAI in 2003, the alignment for the project was done from the Umsning Bypass. The distance of the road from the Umsning Bypass is about 5.21kms (from Lad Mawrong at Jingkieng Umtrew) whereas the distance between the two points on the existing road is only about 4.17 km.
The work for the project began last year but of late, the work has slowed down mostly due to the controversy over the alignment.
The 61.8-km four-lane road is estimated to cost Rs 536 crore.
Meanwhile, the State Cabinet has approved a proposal for outsourcing preparation of the detailed project reports (DPRs) for rural road projects under the flagship Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) to two private parties.
PWD Minister HDR Lyngdoh informed that the two private firms — Archtech Consultants Private Limited and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd — would have to prepare the DPRs within a stipulated time.
The private agencies have been entrusted with the task of preparing the DPRs for 1,625 km of PMGSY roads.