JOWAI: Almost two months after Assam police personnel forcibly stopped construction of the Kurliya bridge connecting Jaintia Hills and other villages across the Myntang river at Tiehwieh in the disputed Block I area, work has resumed again.
The PWD has resumed the construction works thanks to the initiatives taken by the West Jaintia Hills district administration and the State government in enforcing high security in and around the construction site by deploying police and battalion personnel.
It may be mentioned here that construction work of the delayed and much awaited bridge was stopped towards the end of February by Assam police personnel. The construction of the famous Kurliya bridge was initiated in 2005. The construction work was allotted to RB Associate Construction Company by the State PWD. However, the company failed to complete the construction work by 2015 as agreed upon following which the State government cancelled the contract with the company and allotted the project to PWD contractor Pyrkhat Hinge.
The bridge project is Centrally-sponsored under the Inter-State Connectivity Scheme at an estimated cost of Rs 428.65 lakh sanctioned in 2003-04 to include an 800-metre-long approach road on either end of the bridge.
