NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Monday met Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari here and discussed about various ongoing highway projects in the state.
“We discussed about the ongoing projects in our state, including the different CRF projects, the different national highway projects and also discussed on how to speed up the implementation of other national highway projects which are yet to start,” a statement from the chief minister said.
The outcome of the meeting was positive, Conrad said. “We are getting a very positive response from the Union Minister and that within this financial year, we will see that some of the projects that have been pending for some time now, will start,” he added.
There are 61 sanctioned projects under CRF amounting to Rs 371.2216 crore, an inter-state connectivity project at the cost of Rs 60.4228 crore, two four-lane and two two-lane projects under Bharatmala Pariyojana, the two new national highways approved “in principle,” two NHIDCL projects and three state PWD projects, in Meghalaya.
There are four projects under JICA funding in the state having a total length of 414.330 kms. All the four projects are being implemented by NHIDCL. The chief minister further stated that it also depends on the state government giving clearances like forest and others while expressing hope that the other pending projects will start this year.
He also mentioned that construction of the bridge over Brahmaputra connecting Dhubri and Phulbari is also expected to take off very soon. “We also discussed new projects to be done especially by CRF and interstate connectivity and to declare some highways as national highways. The union minister was of the view that it will be better if we ensure that the pending projects are completed before taking up new projects,” the chief minister said.
He said that a lot of attention is being given to Meghalaya and North East in general. Meanwhile, the state government has submitted new proposals to the Transport ministry which include construction of new roads under ISC, road length to be transferred to NHIDCL, NH/SARDP-NE projects proposed for transfer to state PWD besides others.
