SHILLONG, March 15: The blacktopping work on the two-lane road from Itshyrwat to Mawpdang, New Shillong Township (NST), will begin this week.
Sources on Tuesday said that the JV Dhar Construction Company, implementing the project, is targeting to start the blacktopping from Mawpdang to Mawkasiang village as well.
“After this, the company will then start blacktopping of the road till Itshyrwat. The company is targeting to complete blacktopping of this road within April,” sources told The Shillong Times.
According to sources, the firm will target completion of a kilometre of blacktopping work in a day. “But the completion of the work will also depend on the condition that there is no unforeseen circumstances which may lead to the delay,” they said.
It was also informed that the company will take up the construction of the approach road and the drainage work after the blacktopping work is complete.
A senior official of the PWD said that the company expedited blacktopping work after the people had complained about the dust.
“It is difficult for the company to control the dust since it is an open road, especially with the vehicular traffic. The company had tried to pour water but it has not helped to control the dust. So the only way to resolve the problem is to immediately start the blacktopping,” the senior official added.
It may be mentioned that the deplorable condition of the road leading to New Shillong Township (NST) had drawn criticism from several quarters.
The ongoing construction of the 11-km two-lane road under the Meghalaya Integrated Transport Project is funded by World Bank. The road project costs Rs 34 crore.
Many citizens have been complaining about the present state of the road.
Earlier, official sources had informed that the work on the road project had commenced in January 2021, while adding that the timeline to complete the road project is 36 months.
The upcoming two-lane road will start from Itshyrwat till the stretch before reaching Shillong Bypass, official sources said.
The road project will not connect till Shillong Bypass since there is already a PMGSY road project connecting with the bypass which is under implementation, according to official sources.
Moreover, it was also informed that there is no fresh land acquisition of the road project and the two-lane road is being constructed within right of way (ROW) of the PWD.