Special Correspondent
The work on the super highway from Silchar to Balacherra is almost complete. The corridor from Detekcherra to Maibong is fast progressing. In between Balacherra and Harangajao, the stretch of 31 km of the East-West Corridor has been stuck up for years on the ground that it falls in the proposed Borail Wild Life Sanctuary. While the then UPA government shifted the onus on the Gogoi led Congress regime at Dispur, it was red-tapism at its brazen best.
It was more or less clear that the lack of sincere initiative from the State government of the time stood as a stumbling block in the way of clearing the 31 km stretch. With the installation of Sonowal government and its coordination with the NDA government at the Centre, the myth about the Borail Wild Life Sanctuary was broken. It became clear that neither the UPA nor the Gogoi government wanted the corridor to become a reality. Recently, Parimal Suklabaidya, minister of fisheries, forest and excise, took upon himself the responsibility to have on the spot study of the problem standing in the way.
The BJP at the state and the district levels of Barak Valley have been pressing for expeditious completion of the dream project of Vajpayee. In order to give a definite push to the work, Parimal Suklabaidya held an important meeting with National Highways Infrastructure Development Corporation and DFO Sanideo Indradeo. Also present at the meeting were S Lakshmanan, IAS, Deputy Commissioner of Cachar and Kaushik Rai. Before that the minister went round the Borail Wild Life Sanctuary and could understand that extension of the highway through this 31 km stretch would in no way adversely impact the ecology.
At the meeting, emphasis was also laid on the improvement of the stretches of Silchar-Haflong road, now in dilapidated condition. It was also decided that every month, the progress of work would be reviewed and monitored. Parimal Suklabaidya said proposal to rename East-West Corridor after Atal Behari Vajpayee has been sent to the Centre. He also advised the forest and district administration to extend all help to the National Highways Infrastructure Development Corporation. For the last 15 years, there has been a sort of politics by the Congress led government of Tarun Gogoi, obstructing the work on the 31 km stretch. Now, Rs.800 crore has been allotted for the construction of the stretch, the minister pointed out.