Deplorable Condition of National Highway In Assam

GUWAHATI: Several stretches of national highways in Assam are in a pitiable condition. With the onset of the monsoon season, the situation will worsen. However, snail’s pace of progress has already made some among them unfit for vehicles to ply.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and State PWD Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently met Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and urged him to initiate measures for speeding up work on these lifelines.

Talking to The Sentinel, Ajay Ahluwalia — the North East Executive Director of National Highways Infrastructure and Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) – said, “We have begun the reviewing process of the firms that have been carrying out construction work on the National Highways in Assam. Some of them have not been able to speed up work. Action will be taken for poor performance as per legal procedure.”

Mention may be made of five stretches of the National Highway from Nagaon bypass to Dibrugarh bypass. Sources informed that the NHIDCL has already taken action against three firms. While it has terminated the contract with TK Engineering Consortium Pvt Ltd, it has issued termination notices to two others, namely the Simplex Infrastructure Ltd and the Gannon Dumkerley & Co Ltd (GDCL).

Things have come to a pass with TK Engineering Consortium Pvt Ltd as it has moved the court over the termination notice. The company was allotted four-lane work at the 18.4-km stretch from Nagaon bypass to Rangagara. The estimated cost of the work was Rs 159.20 crore. Now the work on this stretch has come to a grinding halt.

The Simplex Infrastructure Ltd — served termination notice by NHIDCL — was allotted the 18.315-km stretch from Rangagara to Kaliabar Tinali. The estimated cost of this work is Rs 196.42 crore. This stretch has also witnessed slow pace of progress.

On the other hand, the Gannon Dumkerley & Co Ltd (GDCL) – also served termination notice by NHIDCL for unsatisfactory progress of repair work — was allotted three packages on the 108-km stretch from Jorhat to Moran bypass at an estimated cost of Rs 1164.96 crore.

Referring to the Margherita-Ledo road which is also under NHIDCL, Ahluwalia said, “An amount of Rs 75 lakh has been approved for the initial repair work of this stretch. Work has already started. We expect the work to be over by June 30, 2019. Another amount of Rs 20 crore has been earmarked for the permanent repair work of this stretch. The work will commence from July. It is expected to be completed within six months time.

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