Shillong-Dawki road project in limbo

By Our Reporter SHILLONG, Nov 26: The FKJGP Riwar Mihngi Circle has voiced its displeasure over the postponement of the Shillong-Dawki road project’s construction. Evanfield Khonglam, president of FKJGP Riwar Mihngi Circle, told The Shillong Times on Sunday, “We are planning to meet with the executive director of the NHIDCL to know on the present status since we were anticipating that the work is going to start again on packages II, III, and V.” Khonglam announced that they would be holding a meeting to discuss whether to enlist the help of  other groups to put pressure on the government to end the ongoing delays. In the meantime, he reported that in accordance with the decision made at the most recent meeting, which took place on July 23 at the Pynursla Civil Sub-Division office of the Additional Deputy Commissioner, they had submitted a petition to the executive director of NHIDCL in October to resume road construction along the highway. “We had also suggested black topping in those portions of the road that had been paved with metal rocks before the final construction work,” Khonglam said. He disclosed that witnesses reported seeing between 15 and 20 construction workers at Nongshyrngan, which is close to Pongtung (Pynursla). “A small portion of the road received black topping. But the work stopped after a few days. No road construction worker is visible right now,” according to Khonglam. Ashish Shukla, general manager, NHIDCL PMU-Mylliem, had earlier provided an update on the progress of the road project within Pynursla Civil Sub-Division, namely Packages II–V, during the meeting held on July 26. In response to a question concerning the reason behind the incomplete bituminous work in the vicinity of Pongtung, Shukla had stated that land acquisition issues forced the tender to be closed, which is why the work was delayed. He said that although bituminous work needs to be put on hold due to the monsoon season, maintenance and restoration work under package IV would start in a few weeks. He reaffirmed that he mobilised the labour force on a priority basis to guarantee that restoration work for the entire Pynursla-Dawki stretch would begin within a few days. Because commuter traffic is on the higher side, package III places additional emphasis on maintaining and repairing the road. Within the next two months, civil work on package V is scheduled to start, according to the NHIDCL official.