ITANAGAR, 4 May: The All Arunachal Pradesh Youth Organisation (AAPYO) on Monday served a week’s ultimatum to the state government to submit the estimated cost for demolition of 62 piers (pillars) to the MoRTH regional office in Tezpur (Assam), and to constitute a one-man independent inquiry committee to probe the Papu Nallah-Naharlagun highway construction.
The ultimatum comes following “repeated submission of representations, including a democratic movement, for corrective measures to be taken in regard to the Papu Nallah-Naharlagun highway and the state government’s inefficiency in taking action against firms and officers involved in large-scale irregularities,” said AAPYO president Kipa Kanam, addressing mediapersons at the Arunachal Press Club here.
“It is a fact that the ambitious flyover project Package (B) NH 415 has been compromised, which was sanctioned under the Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highway (MoRTH) with an estimated cost of Rs 341,71,74,400,” he added.
Alleging that the construction agency used defective TMT bars and substandard cement, thereby endangering public safety, the AAPYO claimed that Rs 200 crore has been already released from the project’s funds, “which, along with the remaining payments related to the ongoing project, needs to be suspended immediately.” “It has been already proven through rebound hammer test and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) on 8 February that the project developer (firm) has miserably failed to execute the works as per the ordinance and left the project unattended,” the organisation further claimed.
According to the organisation, 18 piers of the under-construction highway were built using defective materials.
The AAPYO’s demands include establishment of a MoRTH regional office in the capital region to ensure effective monitoring of Package-B of the national highway, and immediate blacklisting of M/s Woodhill Shivam JV, SPS Technocrats Pvt JV, and AECOM JV.
