By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Scores of vehicles were left stranded for more than three hours in Umsning following an accident that took place late in the evening on December 27.
It was a nightmare for the hundreds of commuters who were travelling in the Shillong-Guwahati road on a cold December night.
Taking strong note of the jam, many passengers were of the view that the four-lane road project has been unnecessarily dragged into controversy while people suffered on account of traffic jams on the busy national highway.
“While certain people opposing the project are sleeping in the comfort of their homes, we are stuck here for more than three hours in this chilly weather,” a furious passenger said.
“The project should be finished at the earliest keeping in mind the disruptions in traffic flow in the highway,” said another passenger.
The controversy over the project lies in the Umsning stretch as the state government now plans to construct the road from Umsning Bypass while the residents of existing Umsning road want the four-lane to be constructed from the latter.
The matter has also been dragged into court thus slowing down the work of the project.
Earlier, the State Government had to back off on its decision to construct the four-lane from the existing Umsning road following opposition from NGOs who resorted to agitation forcing the authorities to decide in favour of constructing the road from Umsning Bypass.
When contacted, Ri Bhoi Deputy Commissioner Akashdeep said that the concerned company has put the work on hold in Umsning Bypass as it was conducting a land survey.
“They (the company) stopped the work in Umsning Bypass not because of land acquisition problem but due to the ongoing survey which is being done for some geometrical improvement.”
It has been learnt that a land acquisition problem had cropped up in Umsning Bypass due to existence of a church and a football ground but the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has agreed to avoid it.
“Once the NHAI submits its technical report we will issue notice for land acquisition,” the DC said.
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 differences between the NGOs and the state government over the acquisition of land from Umsning Bypass. Akashdeep was also of the view that the project can still be completed within its deadline of 2014 as a lot of work has been done in other sectors of the road.
