4-lane project deadline ends this month
SHILLONG: The deadline for laying a four-lane road from Umiam to Jorabat will be over this March, but the road project is quite far from over. It has faced many hurdles, including problems of land acquisition and slow construction besides frequent agitations.
Project director Alok Mani on Saturday said that the State Government was yet to hand over around 30 per cent of land including the Umsning Bypass for the completion of the project.
He also said that the implementing agency was continuing the construction on the land made available for the project.
It may be mentioned that the work of the expressway was completely halted for months during the last monsoon. It resumed only in September last year. Several controversies that had cropped up also delayed the project.
Reacting to a query about the future plan since the project deadline would expire this month, Mani said, “We will see what can be done for the project.”
The implementing agency was still awaiting major chunk of land for the Umsning Bypass.
The construction of the stretch has not even started even though the deadline for the project is nearing.
Ri Bhoi Deputy Commissioner Dr. Pooja Pandey informed that the process was on to hand over additional land to the implementing agency.
She said that the land acquisition proceedings for Umsning Bypass had to cross different stages and it would take some time before the land is handed over to the agency.
The 62-km four-laning of NH 40 (Umiam to Jorabat) has been taken up by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) as the implementing agency with an estimated budget of Rs. 536 crore.
