SHILLONG: The ongoing construction work of the Shillong-Nongstoin-Tura road has made good progress despite the land acquisition hurdle which is a common problem in Meghalaya due to its peculiar land tenure system.
A visit to site reveals that several parts of the road have been completed in West Khasi Hills, while the project has not made much progress in the East Khasi Hills district.
During the visit, it was observed that no expansion work has started right from Upper Shillong till Sohiong and it is only after Sohiong village one can see an expanded road.
Residents and Government officers are also quite impressed with the work speed even though the project has missed the original deadline due to the land acquisition problem.
It is evident that no work has started in the areas such as Markasa and Kynshi.
The land measuring around 7 kms at Kynshi-Langtor sector is yet to be handed over to the company.
It may be mentioned that the much awaited Shillong-Tura road is being executed by the Hyderabad-based company BSC-C&C JV.
Though people may be happy with the expansion of the roads, but landslides along the road has become very common.
Though the agreement to execute the work was made on February 21,2011,the actual work started in November the same year.
It is learnt that Black topping of around 200 km was completed out of the 264.3 km.The company so far has completed around 75 per cent of the work.
What was heartening to note that the many labourers have not left the site despite the fact that it is a rainy season whereas the work in other projects in the state gets completely abandoned during rainy season.
The work along the 264.30-kilometer Shillong-Nongstoin-Tura road at an estimated cost of Rs 1494 crore started in February, 2011and the timeline to finish the project was March, 2014 but its already missed
The project, once completed, will give a relief to the people who have to travel through Assam to reach Garo Hills.
The existing Shillong-Nongstoin-Tura Highway is in a dilapidated condition despite the road being declared as a National Highway in 2004.