Two-lane Shillong Western Bypass project hangs fire
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, April 20: The proposed two-lane Shillong Western Bypass continues to hang fire after a group of landowners expressed their dissatisfaction with the land compensation provided to them.
An official at the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) informed that in the first package, 44 per cent of the compensation was distributed while in second and third packages, around 80 per cent and around 60 per cent of the compensation were distributed respectively.
Earlier, some land owners had pointed out that during a public hearing held two years ago, the government promised them to pay a compensation of around Rs 1,200 crore but on February 20 this year, the government paid them only Rs 681.62 crore.
The official, however, said that revenue is a subject matter of the state and it has to be resolved by the state government itself. “The starting point of the 38.256-km-long Shillong Western Bypass is near Lad Umsaw and it ends at Lad Mawreng,” he said.
Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong had announced that landowners under the Synjuk Ki Rangbah Shnong are willing to sell their land at the price that the deputy commissioners originally determined.
He had also claimed that Meghalaya was facing humiliation because the land compensation was expected to total approximately Rs 1,200 crore, while the project’s total cost for the 30-33 km road was approximately Rs 650 crore.