SHILLONG, Jan 28: The ongoing work of the Shillong-Dawki Road project continues to be delayed due to the state government’s inability to hand over the land to the NHIDCL.
An official of the central corporation said the state government has not been able to provide 700 metres of land in the Mawshun Bypass area even after three years. This has affected work in a 2 km stretch of the road, he said.
The government had initially given about 50% of the land in the area and asked the NHIDCL to start the work. “We cannot award any project (to contractors) until and unless 90% of the identified land is made available by the government,” the official said.
Package 3 of the project, along the Pynursla bypass, has been stalled because the landowners rejected the NHIDCL’s proposed alignment. The landowners want the construction to be done along the existing 1.6 km stretch of the bypass.
Their proposal has been sent to the NHIDCL headquarters for consideration.
Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong had recently expressed his displeasure over the shoddy implementation of the project while local groups blamed him for the poor roads in the area.
As of now, the work has started on package 1 of the project from the MES point to Upper Shillong while the work order for package 2 will be issued by February 15.
The agreement for package 4 is expected to be signed soon. The NHIDCL has floated the tender for the fourth time for package 5 of the project after failing to get any bidder thrice.
