Agartala: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highway (MoRTH) has initiated process to handover development and maintenance of 104 km of the Assam-Agartala National Highway (NH-44) to the PWD, the Assembly was informed.
Giving details of the MoRTH convened meeting in Delhi, PWD Minister Badal Chowdhury informed the Ministry had already decided to handover upgradation and repairing of NH-44 (104 km) to the PWD with the BRO failing to perform.
In the meeting, it was also decided the MoRTH would not provide any new project to the Border Roads Organization (BRO), he said while replying to a calling attention in the Assembly.
“The BRO has been asked to execute all the pending works by March 2014. If the BRO fails to implement the pending projects, all these works should also be handed over to PWD”, he said.
Chowdhury said the state government has little role to play unless and untill the BRO hands over the pending projects to the PWD.
Expressing serious concern over the role of BRO, he said various spots on the National Highway- Dharmanagar to Panisagar, Jirania Block Tri-Junction, Champaknagar, Dolubari, Kumarghat to Pecharthal and Chandraipara have become very dangerous.
“The condition of the NH-44 is such a bad shape in some spots, it could be snapped anytime”, he said.
Chowdhury further said, the BRO had set up a Chief Engineer’s office here but the role has not changed yet leading to pathetic condition of the NH-44, considered lifeline of the state.
In the year 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared the NH-44 to be converted into four-lane. Later, the MoRTH revised the plan and announced that the NH-44 would be double-lane in the first phase.
However, work to face lift the state’s life-line has not been started yet.