Jowai -Malidor road to be repaired
SHILLONG: The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has finally sanctioned Rs 18 crore for repair of Jowai -Malidor stretch of National Highway 44, which is in shambles.
Speaking to The Shillong Times here on Saturday, PWD Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar informed that the PWD received Rs 5 crore so and the repair work would be started in certain portions of the road shortly.
The proposed expansion of NH-44 from Jowai to Malidor along the Meghalaya-Assam border, which was scheduled to start last year, has been delayed and the NHAI is now not sure as when the work will start.
According to Dhar, nothing is known whether the NHAI would call for a fresh tender for expansion of the road even as he said the company which was to implement the work might have refused to implement the project.
The tender for the project was called long time back but the repair work could not be taken up by PWD since it needed a huge amount of money and the State PWD does not have the means and resources to execute the project.
As per the proposal, the NHAI is supposed to upgrade the existing road to a two-lane highway with paved shoulders on each side.
The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs 368.88 crore including Rs 2.28 crore for environmental cost and Rs 9.17 crore for shifting of utilities, land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation.
The expansion work of the arterial NH 44 had been approved under Phase III of the National Highway Development Programme.
The project was to be implemented by Simplex Infrastructure Limited, a Kolkata-based firm.