SHILLONG, July 17: Construction of the severely-delayed Shillong Western Bypass is likely to start within two months. The 38-km road will be constructed at a cost of more than Rs 1,800 crore on a Greenfield alignment.
According to NHIDCL officials, the land acquisition proceedings in all the three packages of the proposed road project have reached 90 per cent and some disbursements have been made.
It may be mentioned that as per the guidelines, the construction work on any project cannot start until and unless 90 per cent of the land has been acquired.
Officials informed that the contractors are expressing their inability to start the construction due to the ongoing rainy season but NHIDCL has asked them to start the work by August-end.
The first package of the projects includes construction of a two-lane road with paved shoulders starting from NH-6 near Lad Umsaw (existing km 60.900 of old NH-40 to NH106 old NH-44E).
The total project cost of the 12.80 km first phase road is Rs 620.30 crore and it will be implemented by M/s Anusha Projects Pvt. Ltd. and BKD Infrastructures Pvt. Ltd. under a joint venture.
The second package is a 11.99-km road and it is being implemented at a cost of Rs 686.03 crore by M/s Narendra Sharma and TK Engineering Consortium Pvt. Ltd. (TKECPL) under a joint venture.
The third package, which will be a 13.56 km road, will be implemented by M/s BRN Infrastructures Pvt. Ltd at a cost of Rs 562.48 crore.