Jowai-Ratacherra project delayed over land hurdle

SHILLONG: The 102-km Jowai-Ratacherra road project is nearing completion and it can be commissioned even before the February deadline provided the state government hands over land for constructing a toll plaza and a truck bay at Ialong near Jowai.
A section of the media visited the project site recently. The stretch till Sonapur tunnel, around 62 km from Jowai, is almost complete and the drainage work is also ready.
When asked about the status of the project, an official of the implementing agency, GR Infrastructure, said work is 70 per cent complete and plans are afoot to complete the road in February. “We have to construct around 30 km road after which the project will be fully commissioned… But state authorities are not being able to hand over the land,” he added.
The agency has to put pavement markings, shoulders and safety signboards on the stretch till Sonapur.
However, the stretch from beyond Sonapur tunnel till the end point of the road has not been taken up as of now and the work is scheduled to be taken up after the monsoon season.
The official said construction will be complete by December.
At present, the agency is focusing on the drainage system.
The expansion work of the arterial NH-6 has been approved under Phase-III of the National Highway Development Programme and the road will be a boon not only for Meghalaya but also for other neighbouring states, including Assam and Mizoram.
The Jowai-Ratacherra road had been lying without maintenance for a long time and the Rs 630-crore project is a welcome change.