WILLIAMNAGAR, June 19: At least 22 kilometres of the long-delayed road between Rongjeng and Adokgre will be completed by the end of the year, if reports of the PWD (Roads) department are to be believed.
The project had been launched in 2017 with much fanfare by the previous MUA government with the total sanction for the project being pegged at Rs 210 crore. The project is expected to benefit some of the remotest areas of Garo Hills, providing good connectivity to a mostly rural populace.
The road in question, with a total length of 54 kilometres, was sanctioned by the previous Congress-led government of the state in September 2017. However, since its inception, the project has been stuck in a limbo.
The project was initially sanctioned through twin sanctions by the North Eastern Council (NEC) and Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR). While the NEC was to provide about Rs 86 crore of the project, NLCPR was to provide close to Rs 123 crore for the road.
However, PWD officials informed that the NEC withdrew from the project citing the fact that it was unwilling to be part of a joint project leading to problems galore.
The withdrawal of NEC led to the project getting smaller with only Rs 123 crore of the NLCPR being redrawn. This left the contractors facing a huge problem as by the time of the NEC withdrawal, many sections of the road currently out of the DPR was also worked on by the companies given the project.
What was more damning for the project was the fact that the project was divided into two sections with separate orders given to two different companies.
As per sources, earthwork for the entire road was given to one M/S Sun Infratech, a Tura-based construction company, while carpeting (bituminous layer) was given to M/S CCL.
As is inherent with such kinds of sanctions, one company had to wait for the other to finish before they could take up the rest of the road construction. “We had to redo the DPR with the amount of money from NLCPR and then create another DPR for the remaining section from another government organisation. We are still awaiting the sanction from the department (NERSDS). Most of the earthwork for the road has been completed and once the rains subside, we will ensure the 22 kilometres is completed by December, with repairs of the damaged sections as well,” said executive engineer, MG Momin.
The EE assured that if the NERSDS sanction came quickly they were targeting February 2023 as the completion for the rest of the project.
