By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The present Dawki Bridge over Umngot river is the only link between Dawki and Bangladesh and though attempts have been made to construct a new bridge, the outcome has been futile.
Unhappy over its incompletion, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MRTH) has decided to implement the Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) mode, which is a form of contracting arrangement within the construction industry, to ensure its early completion.
State PWD Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar told reporters that the Union Government took the decision after the project failed to take off due to non-availability of eligible bidders.
The Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Mahadev Singh Khandela laid the foundation stone for an alternate bridge way back in 2009.
Earlier in 2010, there were three bidders who submitted their tenders for taking over the project but were rejected after they failed to qualify with the prescribe norms of the Ministry and the tender was recalled in 2011 but once again, the same bidders applied for it.
The 165 metre RRC bridge over Umngot river, once completed, will replace the single-lane British era suspension bridge that was built in 1932 as the overland link between the then province of East Bengal and Assam.
The new bridge, estimated at Rs 23.12 crore, was earlier expected to be completed within three years (by 2011) which has already lapsed.
It may be mentioned that only light vehicles are allowed to ply on the existing suspension bridge.
Meanwhile, Dhar informed that Khandela would visit Assam to review projects concerning North East. “The Minister is visiting the region on August 2, and we are likely to take up the matter pertaining to the bridge with him,” Dhar said.
