SHILLONG, Jan 11: The much-delayed two-lane Umpling Bridge – the delay in construction for which is attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic will be finally completed in March this year.
This was informed by the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Assembly, Charles Pyngrope, after the members of the Committee along with senior officials of the PWD carried out an inspection of the ongoing construction work of the bridge on Tuesday.
“The bridge will be open for traffic from March,” Pyngrope told reporters.
According to him, the construction of the bridge had started three years back and the original timeline to complete the bridge was 18 months.
“The Covid-19 pandemic since 2020 has affected the construction of the bridge but we had also witnessed that the implementation of the project was going at a very slow pace during the initial stages,” the PAC chairman said.
When asked if there is cost escalation due to the delay in completing the bridge, Pyngrope said that the total project cost remains Rs 4.35 crore since there is no escalation according to the officials. He further informed that the capacity of the bridge is 70 metric tons.
“The completion of the bridge is crucial to ease vehicular traffic towards NEIGRIHMS,” the PAC chairman said. Later the PAC also inspected the Nongrah Water Supply Scheme. Pyngrope informed that the delay of this important project is a matter of great concern since it was sanctioned way back in 2017-18.
According to him, the progress was slowed down since the area chose to construct the raw water sump, which is taking a lot of time due to the nature of the soil since it is mostly rocky. “We have been informed that by this year we will be drawing water from the raw water sump for the residents of Nongrah village. The water supply scheme targets to provide potable water to around 2000 plus population of Nongrah village,” the PAC chairman said.
He also informed that the delay was also due to the fact that it took time to get the proper source for this scheme. He said that it has been proposed that the water supply scheme would generate 8 lakh liters of water per day which will be augmented in the years to come.
Replying to a query, he said that the amount sanctioned for the water supply scheme is Rs 5.35 crore. On the construction of internal roads in the area, Pyngrope said that sanctions have been made and some works have been carried out but the pace is very slow.
Pyngrope further stated that the officers have informed that all the schemes proposed under the rehabilitation or reconstructions of roads have been allotted to the contractor.
“This is one good step in the right direction. Now it is up to the contractors to start and get the ball rolling,” he said.
Pointing out that these roads are feeding New Shillong, he said that the contractors cannot take it lightly as it is not a question of Nongrah, Umpling but of feeder roads. “If you want the decongestion of Shillong, you have to pay special attention to all these roads,” he said.
Meanwhile, the PAC chairman informed that Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong had indicated that there is also a proposal for construction of another bridge over the Umkaliar that is from MES to Umpling which will connect to Itshyrwat. He said that he was informed that the total cost of that approximately at today’s rate will be Rs 70 crore but that is also a very important feeder bridge to ease the congestion from Shillong to NEIGRIHMS.
Pyngrope said that proposal will be put up in the next budget session.