SHILLONG, Jan 17: Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, in charge of PWD (Roads), said the state government is unhappy with how the NHIDCL functions. He also backed the protest of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) against the corporation.
The National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) is executing the Shillong-Dawki Road project and a few others in Meghalaya.
“I have had more than 100 meetings with the NHIDCL and we are not happy with the style and functioning of the NHIDCL,” Tynsong said on Wednesday.
There have been complaints against the corporation in Assam too, he said.
The state government wanted all four packages of the Shillong-Dawki Road to be completed on time.
“I will call a review meeting again. I am happy that Synjuk Ki Rangbah Shnong and some NGOs protested against the slow pace of work,” he said.
Members of the JAC, consisting of traditional leaders and pressure groups, barged into the office of the NHIDCL earlier in the day and threatened to file public interest litigation if the work on the Pynursla-Dawki stretch under Phase IV of the Shillong-Dawki project is not started immediately.
None of the 17 projects undertaken by the NHIDCL since 2018 have been completed. Split into different packages, these projects are worth more than Rs 7,195 crore.
The corporation’s project report says only the two-lane Ranikor-Nonghyllam-Maheshkhola-Baghmara project (package 1) is nearing completion. The package, 94.53% complete, was awarded in 2019 to Dhar Construction Company and Chanchal Paul (joint venture) at a sanctioned cost of Rs 306.28 crore.
Apart from this, the improvement (widening to two-lane with earthen shoulder) of the Ranikor-Maheshkhola-Baghmara Road section from Rongara to Panda with a design length of 16.30 km on EPC (package 5) is 82% completed.
This project was awarded to Narendra Sharma in 2020. The physical progress of other projects is far from satisfactory even though they have been implemented for quite some time now, it was learned.
The Shillong-Dawki project has missed several deadlines and the construction work on most of its stretches has been stalled due to various reasons.
