SHILLONG: The four laning of the Jorabat-Umiam highway has suffered a setback with National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) expressing its resentment over the delay in handing over of the land for the Umsning bypass, hampering the entire process.
A senior official of the NHAI while speaking to The Shillong Times on Wednesday said, “We want ‘results’ on the Umsning bypass so that we can expedite the process.”
There has been objection from the local people to part with their land for the six-km-long bypass project.
“Now we will have to be tough with the State Government for the land required for the project,” the NHAI official added.
On the request of anonymity, the official said the NHAI can also maintain the existing NH-40 passing through Umsning if the land for the bypass is cleared.
The new stumbling block in the project is a reserve forest located near Nongpoh. Around 1.1 hectares of the reserve forest land is required for the four-lane road.
The State Government is yet to get the clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forest for the stretch even as there is urgent need to clear all the glitches so that the work may be resumed after the monsoon is over.
Of the total 181.97 hectares of land required for the project, a total of 155.13 hectares have already been handed over to the NHAI for the Rs 536-crore four-lane project. The 61.8-km-long is scheduled for completion by the beginning of 2014.
