By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 13: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday said work on the Shillong-Dawki Road project will commence in full swing soon.
“As you know, the earlier contractors backed out of two packages of the Shillong-Dawki project. The NHIDCL tendered the surrendered packages and allotted them to new contractors,” he said.
A review meeting was held with the new contractors to assess their preparation so that they can carry out the work as much as possible in the next six months, he said.
“We expect the machinery and manpower to be mobilised soon. We should see the work on all the stretches of the road commence in full swing shortly,” Sangma said.
He said there were multiple reasons why the contractors had backed out. “In some locations, we had issues with forest clearance. In some other areas, we had problems with utility shifting. We also had problems with land acquisition and opposition from certain communities and groups elsewhere,” he said.
The biggest problem for any project in Meghalaya is the acquisition of land, which belongs to the community and there are “hundreds of owners” to deal with, Sangma said.
“The exercise is very complicated, but we have overcome the challenges. I hope the Shillong-Dawki Road project will be on track soon,” he said, declining to give a timeline for the completion of the packages.
