Defence Min to hand over land for Shillong-Dawki road project

SHILLONG: In a huge boost to the delayed Shillong-Dawki road project, the Ministry of Defence has finally agreed to part with 12.45 acres of land for construction of the strategic road.
Revealing this on Tuesday, Union Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar tweeted that the move will address the long standing requirement to undertake the project.
It may be mentioned that the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited under the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) is implementing the project.
The defence land will be used for expansion of the road to a four-lane highway till Upper Shillong after which it will be a two-lane road till Dawki.
Defence PRO, Wing Commander Ratnagar Singh said the decision of the Ministry would be of great help for the people of the state.
However, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong who is in charge of PWD (Roads) said the state government is yet to receive an official notification in this regard.
Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, he said there was a verbal communication that the Defence Ministry will part with the land to MoRTH for the four-lane project from Umshyrpi upto Banuin.
The 71.5-km road will be constructed at a cost of Rs 1431.91 to be funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.