CM blames district councils for delay in road projects

SHILLONG: Now, the CM is irate. Chief Minister Mukul Sangma has castigated the autonomous district councils for playing a negative and anti-people role which, he alleges, has led to delays in construction of road projects worth thousands of crores.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Sangma said that the government has had to face a lot of hurdles in implementing road projects due to the presence of multiple authorities.
While mentioning that the Mawphlang-Mawsynram-Balat road has already been approved, the CM added that the Mawphlang-Mawkyrwat-Ranikor road project will soon be taken up.
“After the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council resorted to their game of delaying the issuing of NOC, we divided the project into two parts so that if there is delay in issuing of NOC from one district council, the other could go ahead,” Sangma said.
According to the CM, the Ministry of Road and Transport Highways has made it clear that the road projects will not be allotted until land acquisition is complete and the land is in possession of the state government.
Maintaining that some of the roads in the state are the best in the country, Sangma added that the worst stretches in the state are not the state highways but the National Highways.
He also took pride in the Shillong Bypass saying the road which, to a great extent, has provided relief from traffic snarls in the city, he said, besides the new Guwahati-Shillong road which has been transformed into a four lane.