Meghalaya, Assam to make joint efforts to solve highway water-logging

SHILLONG: The district administration of Ri Bhoi and Kamrup in Assam will jointly inspect the four-lane expressway connecting Guwahati with Shillong to address the water-logging problem.
Officials at the regional office of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) said they had informed the NHAI headquarters in Delhi about water-logging on the stretch near Nongpoh. They had also sought permission from the deputy commissioner of Ri Bhoi to open the converts.
But the problem is worse in several stretches near Jorabat and Byrnihat where traffic is adversely affected in monsoon.
The NHAI officials said many houses have come up near the outlets of the converts in Byrnihat and Jorabat restricting water drainage.   “The Assam government says it is Meghalaya’s problem and the Meghalaya government says both the states have to address the issue jointly. We will soon have a joint inspection,” the officials added.
NHAI has also asked the Ri Bhoi administration to allot 2.82 hectares of land to address the problem of frequent landslides. “But till date the administration has not given the estimates to the agency,” the officials said.
The highways authority is also “losing on revenue as the Meghalaya government has not given additional land at the toll plaza”.
When asked about repairing Umsning Road, the NHAI officials said minor errors in cost estimates are delaying work. But they assured that work will start immediately after money is sanctioned.