Agartala: The Tripura government has rubbished the opposition Congress’ allegation of wrongdoing by Union minister Nitin Gadkari and Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb in award of work for Rs 10,000 crore national highway in the state.
Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) member and its former president Gopal Chandra Roy on Sunday came out with the allegation of wrongdoing against Gadkari and Deb in award of work order for 995.91 km National Highway to central Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL).
A statement issued by the Tripura Department of Information and Cultural Affairs Monday night said the allegations are indicative of complete lack of understanding and are far from truth.
Roy, a former MLA, cited an office note issued by Advisor to the chief minister Bhai Vijay Chibber on August 10, where he said that he attended a meeting chaired by Gadkari in New Delhi. The meeting agreed on a host of decisions which include handing over 620.91 km stretch of National Highway in Tripura to the NHIDCL. The road length is being maintained by the state Public Works Department (PWD), which is in poor condition due to limited fund provided by MoRTH, the note said.
It added that a stretch of 229 km additional road length, which was approved as a national highway on an in principle basis, would also be handed over by the state PWD authorities to the NHIDCL.
The entire work is worth Rs 10,000 crores, Congress leader Roy said, adding that as per the rules, the state PWD would have got 9 per cent agency commission out of the work. The state construction agency was deprived of the funds by single-handedly deciding to award the work to the NHIDCL. The NHIDCL is a central PSU, but without any major natural disaster, this work cannot be given to them without a tender, he alleged. (PTI)
