Land acquisition for Shillong-Tura road complete

SHILLONG: Land acquisition for the remaining stretch of Shillong-Nongstoin-Tura road in Upper Shillong till Sohiong is finally over.
East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner P.S Dkhar said on Thursday around Rs 1.5 crore has been paid as compensation to the land owners and now PWD has to start work.
The 264.30km Shillong-Nongstoin-Tura road project at the cost of Rs 1,494 crore started in February 2011 and was scheduled to be over by March 2014. The road will start from Upper Shillong and connect with Jengjal, around 30km from Tura.
However, a major portion of the road from Upper Shillong till Sohiong could not be taken up earlier due to delay in land acquisition.
Meanwhile, land acquisition for the Western Bypass has not started yet. Dkhar said the PWD has not finalised the alignment for the bypass and once it is done, the DC office will start land acquisition for the project.
The two-laning of the Western Bypass of Shillong from 60.9km to 87.8km of NH-40 is to be taken up at an estimated budget of Rs 258 crore.
The land acquisition estimate for the first 10km has been prepared by the West Khasi Hills DC but the Revenue and Disaster Management Department could not notify due to non-receipt of consent from the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council.
The remaining stretch has to be realigned and land acquisition will be initiated only after finalising the DPR.