[ Prafulla Kaman ]
RUKSIN, 26 Jun: Pasighat West MLA Ninong Ering on Saturday inspected the ongoing restructuring work on the Mirem-Mikong-Jonai (MMJ) road and asked the road construction agency to maintain quality.
During the inspection, Ering detected some ‘irregularities’ in the road work and directed the road construction agency to rectify the layer filling work by removing oversized boulders.
The MLA, who was accompanied by Ruksin ADC Tajing Jonnom and Pasighat PWD Division EE Tani Taki during the visit, also met the locals of Ruksin and Ngorlung, and assured them that the defective works would be rectified.
The MMJ Road Monitoring Committee had squarely blamed road construction agency Puna Hinda and the Pasighat PWD division for the poor quality work, and had lodged a complaint against them with the East Siang DC on 24 June.
In its complaint letter, the committee alleged that the road works were not being done as per the DPR.
It said that the road layer had been constructed without excavation, earth-filling and proper compaction, “and by filling oversized boulders, thus compromising with the work quality.” The committee also alleged that the construction agency had not deployed machineries as mentioned in the tender agreement.
The PWD EE denied the allegation, saying that the department neither certified the layer-filling work nor paid any bill to the contractor concerned against the work. He said the junior engineers of the department have been entrusted to monitor the construction activities.
The EE urged the monitoring committee members to cooperate with the department in completing the road work within the stipulated period.
The 14-km-long MMJ road links Ruksin headquarters with the greater Mirem-Bilat area in East Siang and parts of Lower Siang district.
The DoNER ministry under its North East Road Sector Development Scheme sanctioned Rs 42.27 crores for complete restructuring of the MMJ road, out of which Rs 15 crores has been released as the first installment.
