GUWAHATI, July 12 � The total length of the under construction Four-lane Highway of the East-West Corridor in Assam is 670.65 km and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is implementing the project. This was stated by PWD Minister Ajanta Neog in the State Assembly today. She was replying to a question of Phani Bhusan Choudhury (AGP).
She also informed that 186 bridges are under construction as part of this highway. An amount of Rs 5,318.60 crore has been allocated for the construction of the highway and of this amount, Rs 2,307.12 crore has so far been released. However, the pre-construction expenditures have been excluded while working out these allocation and released amounts, said the Minister.
To construct this stretch of the Four-lane Highway, 40,210 trees have been felled so far and the timber logs obtained from these trees have been disposed of as per the legal provisions. So far, 96 educational institutes have also been evicted for construction of this highway, said the Minister.
The Chief Minister has been requesting the Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry to expedite construction of this highway and he also held a meeting with the Union Minister on April 20 on the issue.
The State Public Works Department (PWD) has been authorized to carry out some repairs in a 150-km stretch of this highway (NH- 54 E), between 63 km and 213 km, in the Dima Hasao (North Cachar Hills) District. The Department is aware of the fact that the condition of some portions of this road has turned bad, said the Minister.
Abhayapuri-Ghy Rd: Construction of three big RCC bridges is now on in the Barpeta-Lengtichinga stretch of the Abhayapuri-Lengtichinga- Barpeta- Guwahati State Road on Manah, Beki and Mora Beki rivers under the Assam Vikash Yojana, the Minister said. She was replying to a question of Gunindranath Das.
She informed the House that the above bridges are targeted to be completed by December 2012.
The Guwahati-Kalitakuchi part is constructed with NABARD assistance under RIDF scheme as an intermediate lane, while the project report for the Kalitakuchi-Barpeta part has been sent to the DoNER Ministry with the proposal for construction of this portion under the NESRIP. Work related to land acquisition for construction of this part is going on.
A consultant has been appointed to conduct the necessary survey, including the social and environmental studies, for construction of the Barpeta-Kalitakuchi part of the road. This part of the road is sought to be constructed under the Assam State Road Project with World Bank assistance, said the Minister.
She denied that the condition of the Barpeta-Doulasal-Hajo-Guwahati Road is worse. Constant rains for the past several months have resulted in some potholes on the road and if adequate amount of fund is made available, the road between Hajo Adabari and Doulasal could be repaired, she said.
