New Delhi: Union Minister for Road Transport & Highway Oscar Fernandes will visit Meghalaya next month for an on-the-spot study of the progress of Shillong -Guwahati (NH 40).
Informing this here, Lok Sabha member from Shillong Vincent H Pala said Fernandes would be accompanied by two senior officials of his department.
Pala, meanwhile, met top officials of the NHAI to discuss four-laning of the NH 40 which is yet to be completed. The meeting took place in the Parliament House. He also led a delegation from Meghalaya and called on the Union Minister earlier.
“People are facing a lot of hardship due to stoppage of work and non-maintenance of the road on this stretch,” Pala said.
They urged the Union Minister to take up the matter with the concerned departments so that the construction work starts as soon as possible to which the Union Minister readily agreed.
The widening work on the 100-km-long NH 40 between Guwahati and Shillong is moving at a slow pace. The NHAI has asked the State government to provide additional land along the existing highway. Work came to a halt after some freak incidents.
The 62-km four-lane of NH 40 (Umiam to Jorabat) has been taken up by the NHAI as the implementing agency which is doing the work through Ms Ramky at a tender cost of Rs 536 crore. While the work started in 2010 it is supposed to be opened for traffic in March next year.
