Govt preparing submission for High Court

Four-laning of NH-40

By Our Reporter

 SHILLONG: The State Government is preparing its written submission on the jinxed Umiam-Jorabat four-lane road project to be submitted before the Gauhati High Court, following a direction from the court.

The Gauhati High Court asked the State Government to file the written submission on the basis of a PIL filed by the landowners and an NGO in opposition to the recent decision of the State Government to construct the proposed four-lane road through the Umsning Bypass.

Sources said that the State Government is preparing its written submission which would be produced before the court whenever the matter taken up for hearing.

Controversy over the four-lane road project is yet to die even though the work for the much-awaited four-lane road is going on in most places.

Earlier, the State Government had planned to construct the four-lane road from the existing Umsning road but it was opposed by the NGOs who resorted to agitation, forcing the Government to decide in favour of construction of the road from the Umsning Bypass.

However, this decision too has been criticized by the landowners of Umsning who want the Government to construct the road from the existing Umsning road.

Despite the controversies, the State Government has started the process of land acquisition after the NHAI asked the Government to provide the land for construction of the road through the Umsning Bypass.

The four-laning of NH-40 from Jorabat to Umiam, covering 61.8 km at an estimated cost of Rs 536 crore started at a brisk pace but hit a stumbling block after the NGOs and Government landed in a scuffle over the acquisition of land from Umsning Bypass.