[ Nellie N Manpoong ]
ITANAGAR, Jun 12: The DBM (dense bitumen macadam) or black-top layering of the four-lane highway from Indira Gandhi Park to the secretariat area is set to begin within this month.
This was informed by one of the directors of TK Engineering and Consortium Pvt Ltd, Techi Tara, who also clarified that there has been no hold-up in the construction as perceived by some.
“In fact, we were to complete 10 percent of the construction work by March 2018. But we are ahead of schedule and have achieved over 35 percent of the work,” said Tara.
The construction agency has officially been given the target time of three years (September 2017 to September 2020).
In February this year, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein had directed TK Engineering & Consortium, which is the engineering, procurement & construction (EPC) contractor of the four-lane highway, to complete the 10.50 km Package-A (Chandranagar to Papu Nallah) of the NH-415 by March 2019.
“As a construction agency, we want to complete the work before the target date while maintaining quality. The more time we take, the more we end up spending in manpower, fuel, and other such things. So there is no question of delaying the construction work. If formation cutting is done, then almost 80 percent of the work is complete,” said Tara.
The director said while contractors usually have merely four months of working season in the state, the monsoon has been late this year and has aided in speeding up the construction.
On complaints that there is no space for four-lane construction in certain areas, Tara informed that the stretch of road between Bank Tinali and Zero Point will have an underpass of approximately 100 metres.
The construction agency is also continuing its work on retaining walls, he said, adding that there is also requirement of designated dumping grounds, so that the excavated soil does not create hindrance.
Tara further informed that there are various minor yet significant factors affecting the construction process, such as shifting of utility services (telephone and electric poles, water pipeline, OFC, etc).
Tara said there are also some local compensation cases, which are sub-judice in the high court, for some locations.
Meanwhile, Capital Complex Deputy Commissioner Prince Dhawan informed that a meeting will be held to review the progress of the work. He opined that there is lack of coordination between the utility service providers and the construction agency.
Regarding the issue of lack of dumping sites for the excavated soil, the DC said the district administration had provided a few sites but they have been filled and the agency is seeking new sites.
“The new identified dumping sites have received objection from some residents,” Dhawan said, but assured that all the issues would be resolved within a week or two.
TK Engineering & Consortium is the construction agency working on the Rs 196.19 crore project, under the supervision of the state public works department.
The eviction drive for the four-lane construction began in August 2017, and the construction work was given the official flag-off in September 2017 by the deputy chief minister. However, major works began to take shape in November 2017.
