GR Infrastructure engaged in repair of existing road, bridges
Jowai-Ratacherra road project
SHILLONG: The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has expressed displeasure at the inability of the State government to hand over land to the implementing agency for the Jowai-Ratacherra road project even though the former has already deposited the compensation amount with the State government.
Officials from NHAI on Sunday said they require around 16 hectares of land to go ahead with the project, whereas the State government has not been able to hand over even one hectare of land to them.
According to officials, most of the construction work is to be done in East Jaintia Hills since a greater portion of the two-lane road falls under the district.
The implementing agency at the moment is currently repairing the road since the condition of the road has gone from bad to worse in recent times. The agency has repaired some bridges which were in deplorable condition.
The project will be taken up at the cost of Rs 630 crore and it will be a boon not only for Meghalaya but even for other neighbouring states including Assam.
The proposed up gradation of National Highway 44 from Jowai in West Jaintia Hills to Ratacherra in East Jaintia Hills on the Meghalaya-Assam border, which was scheduled to start in 2015, has been off the track for several years.
Expansion work of the arterial NH 44 has been approved under Phase III of the National Highway Development Programme and GR Infrastructure has already set up its camps in Umkiang and mixers plants have also been placed in the area to ensure the repairing work.
The NHAI officials also lamented that there is undue delay in getting necessary clearances from the Regional Office of the Ministry of Environment and Forest for construction of the road through the Narpuh Wildlife Forest Reserve which falls along the route.