SHILLONG: Defence authorities have sent the proposal to hand over land to the state government for the upgradation of Shillong-Dawki road to the Union Government for its approval.
Defence PRO Wing Commander Ratna-kar Singh informed that a joint inspection was carried out earlier and the land required for the purpose has been earmarked.
“Now the Defence Estate Officer in Guwahati has made the proposal and has sent it to the Union Government for its approval,” Singh said. It is not known how much time the Union Government would take to accord its approval.
The State Government requires around 12 hectares of land from the Indian Air Force for the upgradation of the road besides some more land from the Army. Quite a few stretches of the road passes through areas where defence establishments are located like the 101 Area and the Eastern Air Command Headquarters in Upper Shillong.
The Shillong-Dawki road upgradation project is being implemented by the National Highway Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) and as per the status report of the PSU, the JICA loan agreement was signed in March this year.
The report also says that the alignment issues raised by the Forest Department between km 2+500 to km 3+500 (3rd Mile Bypasses) was taken up with the State Government and the former in-principle approved alignment from 1.9 km to 2.50 km.
It also says that part of SIA/LA for East Khasi Hill District has been submitted to DC and the remaining stretch falling under Jaintia Hills is in progress.
It may be mentioned that the project has been split into five packages based on the RoW, NoC and other clearances from the local authority and NOC has been received from all the District Hill Councils for the entire length of the project.
The 71.5 km road is to be taken up at a cost of Rs 1431 crore. The road will be four-lane till Upper Shillong followed by two-lane up to Dawki.