Land acquision major hurdle in NE: Gadkari

Guwahati: With land acquisition and forest clearance standing as major hurdles in road construction in North East, Union Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday proposed free-of-cost road construction by his ministry wherever land is provided with all clearances by the state government in NE.
“The major problems in NE are land acquisition and getting forest clearances. We have urged the state governments to expedite it, Gadkari said at a press conference here, winding up his four-day tour of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.
He said the ministry will consider construction of roads wherever land is provided by state government free-of-cost and with all clearances.
Three projects have already been proposed for the ministry’s consideration which are East West Industrial Highway (430 km) from Bhairabkund to Ruksin, Frontier Highway (1800 km) from Tawang to Vijay Nagar, and Dirang Project to Nafra (37 km), all in Arunachal Pradesh.
“The same proposal for free road construction stands for all NE states. But these roads have to be important, busy roads,” he said.
While thanking the Ministry for starting the execution of 4-laning projects up to Dibrugarh, Gogoi urged Gadkari to extend it beyond Dibrugarh to Panchu Pass in Arunachal Pradesh via Joyrampur in Assam to ensure its access to the Stilwell Road.
Taking up the progress of construction of the East-West Corridor, Gogoi urged him to expedite the construction work of the additional bridge over river Brahmaputra adjacent to the Saraighat Bridge. (UNI)