GUWAHATI, July 27 - The Gauhati High Court has directed the PWD (National Highway Division) to complete the construction works of the National Highways 6, 8 and 37 in Barak Valley by the end of March, 2018.
Disposing a PIL filed by advocate AK Talukdar, a division bench of Chief Justice Ajit Singh and Justice Manojit Bhuyan also directed Nripendra Kumar Bora, Chief Engineer of the PWD (NH Division), Assam to submit a report regarding the completion of the construction work to the Registrar (Judicial), Gauhati High Court in the first week of April, 2018.
The PIL (No. 37 of 2016) was filed in May 2016 and the final hearing was held on July 25 last.
Bora, who appeared on behalf of the department, informed the court that the construction work on all the three highways (NH 6, NH 8 and NH 37) was going on and only an aggregate of 31 kilometres construction work was left to be done on the three highways, which is supposed to be completed by March next year.
In his PIL, the petitioner has stated that the three highways were the lifeline of the Barak Valley, connecting its four districts and the States of Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura, with rest of the country via Guwahati, which were in extremely pathetic condition.
The Court also directed the department concerned to ensure that the construction of these Highways is of the prescribed quality. The petitioner was also asked by the court to file another PIL if not satisfied by the construction work.
