Fund for construction of State highway allegedly misappropriated in Dhakuakhana

A CORRESPONDENT

LAKHIMPUR: The local people of Dhakuakhana have become vocal against a construction company for alleged poor implementation of the construction work of a State Highway under the subdivision.

This road is Khajuwa Tiniali-Matmora connecting State Highway via Dhakuakhana town. Notably, a fund amounting to Rs. 48.8537 crore was sanctioned under CRF scheme to construct the road by upgrading it to a State highway. The contract for the implementation of the construction work of the highway was accorded to a Ahmedabad based company. Then Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the construction work of the highway on April 5, 2018 in the presence of the Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Naba Kumar Doley and Lakhimpur MP Pradan Baruah.

Instead of constructing the culvert, located at Khamon Birina afresh by removing the old one, the company has planned to just lengthen the culvert by connecting iron bars at both ends of the old culvert in order to equalize and level it with the width of the two lane highway.

According to the local people, the culvert was constructed years ago and it has become weak in course of time. In this connection, they alleged that the company had planned to misappropriate the fund in connivance with the PWD engineers concerned. Expressing apprehension over the bearing capacity of the culvert, the local people asserted that it would lose its strength very soon under the weight of the heavy vehicles to be plied along a State highway.

Under such circumstances, people have demanded the subdivisional and district administration to launch a probe into the construction works being implemented by the company and to initiate disciplinary step against it. A source in the PWD informed that the construction of the culvert was not incorporated in the estimate of the highway.

Also Read: Public flays poor state of paver-block road in Dhakuakhana, demands investigation

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