SHILLONG: Almost seven years after the foundation stone was laid, the construction of the much awaited Dawki alternate bridge, which is strategically and commercially important for the State, is yet to start.
It was on November 13, 2009, when the Congress-led UPA was in power that the then Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Mahadev Singh Khandela, laid the foundation stone for the new Shillong-Dawki Bridge on River Umngot.
The new bridge once completed, will replace the existing single-lane British era suspension bridge that was built in 1932 as the overland link between the then provinces of East Bengal and Assam.
PWD (Roads) Minister Martin Danggo said after the laying of the foundation stone, the schedule of rates (SOR) fixed to construct the bridge had lapsed.
Danggo was the guest of honour when the foundation stone was laid. “The lapse of the earlier estimate led to re-submission of fresh estimates to the Centre, but the sanction is yet to be made and in the meantime, there was a new government at the Centre,” he said.
The Minister, however, said that he would visit Delhi sometime in October to pursue the matter and other pending projects.
As per the initial estimate, the new 165-metre RRC bridge was to be completed in 2011 at a cost of Rs 23.12 crore.
Earlier in 2010 and 2011, three bidders had applied to take part in the tender process, but they did not fulfil the criteria prescribed by the Ministry.
In this context, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had decided to implement the project on the Engineering-Procurement-Construction (EPC) mode.
As per the EPC mode, the bidders to be selected will prepare their own estimates and the work will be allotted to the selected firm by the Ministry after comparing the estimates prepared by the Department and the bidders.
The contractor assigned by the selected bidder will be entrusted to prepare the design of the project, get the materials, procure equipment and complete the work.
