Staff Reporter
Guwahati: Even after missing several deadlines, the pace of work on the four-lane National Highway (NH) in Upper Assam is yet to pick up; it is still progressing at a slow rate, especially on the portion from Jhanji to Demow. The latest work completion deadline for the Jhanji to Demow stretch was missed yet again by the construction firms.
The length of the NH stretch from Jhanji to Demow is 44 km. After the construction firms missed several deadlines, the National Highways Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) in 2024 divided the work into four packages, and four construction firms were entrusted with work on the packages. The construction firms missed the latest deadline of October 2025, which led the NHIDCL to issue cure notices to two firms for slow progress in executing the work. The cure notices were issued to Bharat Vanijya Eastern Pvt Ltd (BVEPL) and Kushal Sharma.
A cure notice is a formal written notice, typically from a landlord or a contracting party, to a tenant or contractor, stating that a breach of a contract or lease has occurred and giving the recipient a specific period to fix the problem. If the issue is not corrected within the given timeframe, the sender may take further action, such as beginning an eviction process or terminating the contract.
According to NHIDCL sources, two bridges and 8 km of the NH stretch from Jhanji to Demow have to be reconstructed, and new contractors have been assigned to execute the work.
The under-construction Jhanji to Demow stretch has been a pernicious problem for travellers and residents of the area alike for several years now. No respite from the problem is in sight yet.
Earlier, even Union Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had issued several deadlines for completion of the Upper Assam NH, but all efforts failed. Recently, Congress MP from Assam Gaurav Gogoi raised the issue through a question in Parliament over the slow progress of work on the NH in Upper Assam. In reply to Gogoi's question, Minister Gadkari said that the four-lane NH in Upper Assam would be completed within six months.