By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: A major lack of coordination among government authorities over the dispute over Umsning bypass has come to the fore.
The Ri-Bhoi district administration has claimed to have filed a report to the State Government on the status of the bypass, which has emerged as a major bottleneck for the Umiam-Jorabat four-lane project, even as the government denied having received any such status report.
There were oppositions to the earlier proposal of expanding the existing highway going through Umsning market into four-lane, but the locals are also opposing to an alternative proposal to construct a six-km-long bypass in the section, posing a grave challenge for the ambitious project.
Home Minister HDR Lyngdoh, also in charge of PWD, told The Shillong Times he has not received any report on the alignment of the four-lane road at Umsning.
However, when contacted, Ri-Bhoi Deputy Commissioner M Kharmujai said he had submitted a detailed report in this regard long ago to the State Government.
The Government had in March asked for a report from the DC on the ground reality of the issue and said it would take a final call on the matter only after receiving the DC’s recommendations.
There has been a reported opposition to the proposed bypass since it would pass through a church and the proposed site for a stadium.
However, according to the DC, there is no opposition to the construction of the bypass at Umsning.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mukul Sangma has directed Chief Secretary WMS Pariat to intervene in the matter of acquiring land for the four-lane project in Umsning area.
Of the total 181.97 hectares of land required for the Rs 536-crore project, 155.13 hectares have already been handed over to the NHAI while the remaining 26.84-hectare land in Umsning portion is yet to be acquired.
The NHAI also requires 1.1 hectares of the reserve forest land near Nongpoh for construction of the four-lane road. The 61.8-km-long road is scheduled for completion by the beginning of 2014.