FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
Itagar, March 15: Aruchal Pradesh has urged the Centre to approve the proposed 2000-km road from Tawang to Vijaygar to provide connectivity to the border areas along the MacMohan line by declaring it as tiol Highway.
State PWD Minister Gojen Gadi made the plea during a meeting with Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju at New Delhi on Saturday, an official release said here today.
Pointing out that a concept paper with provision for consultancy services to cost Rs 63 crore has already been submitted to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway (MoRTH), Gadi sought immediate sanction besides fund provision for preparing the DPR on priority. Gadi had also made the same request to declare the proposed 431-km East-West Industrial Corridor Highway along the foothill areas from Bhairabkund to Rukshin as NH with a fund provision of Rs 8.50 crore for consultancy services.
Both the roads are pet projects of Rijiju, which he had announced here in July 2014.
Moreover, Gadi also reiterated his request for awarding eight un-awarded road projects of the total 22 to the state PWD as the physical progress of 14 ongoing schemes was about 71 per cent with a target to complete within a year.
If the eight projects are awarded to the tiol Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDC) Ltd, the two divisions created by the PWD for speedy execution of 14 projects would be left with no work and create imbalance in placement of engineers & staff, he justified in his humble submission, the communiqué informed. Moreover, he requested for release of balance Rs 54.02 crore for 11 ongoing projects within this fiscal for completion of work on time.
The minister also sought the intervention of Rijiju for consideration of four schemes - two under economic importance, one each under inter-state connectivity, whose proposals were submitted to the DG (RD), MoRTH in September last, the communiqué added.