ITANAGAR, Aug 9: Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein on Thursday reviewed the status of all the highway projects in Arunachal Pradesh.
Top officials of the state, including the chief secretary and all deputy commissioners, were present in the meeting, along with officials from the forest and land management departments, the PWD, the PHED, BSNL, and representatives from the NHIDCL and the MoRTH.
The chief minister urged everyone to speed up processes like land acquisition, forest clearance, tendering, and execution of all highway projects in the state. He particularly expressed concern at the delay in execution of the Trans-Arunachal Highway(TAH) project, especially the Potin-Pangin stretch.
While discussing the four-lane Hollongi to Banderdewa road, Khandu asked the highway department officers to “continuously follow up with the concessionaire, so that Phase A of the sanctioned project is completed on time.”
He also requested the MoRTH to complete the sanctioning process for Phases B and C as soon as possible.
“The state government is drawing flak from the people for the Potin-Pangin stretch of TAH and the four-lane road in the state capital. We should take these criticisms in the right sense and tighten up our belts. Citizens cannot be allowed to suffer for no fault of theirs,” Pema said.
He requested the MoRTH and NHIDCL representatives to convey the need and urgency of the highway projects to their authorities, so that approvals and sanctions are granted as early as possible.
Regarding the delay caused in some portions of the highway projects due to land acquisition issues, Pema asserted that work must begin on the stretches where 80% acquisition has already been done. He said the entire project should not get stuck due to problems in a few stretches, and assured full cooperation from the state government.
The chief minister directed the deputy commissioners to follow up with the concessionaires and resolve all issues faced by them in executing the projects.
Mein too expressed concern over the delay in execution of the Potin-Pangin stretch of the TAH, particularly in Lower Subansiri district, and asked the Lower Subansiri DC to submit his report on the assessment at the earliest.
He said “the investigation part on alleged misappropriation will independently continue but the entire project should not be affected.”
The National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL), which is undertaking a major chunk of the highway projects in the state, presented the issues being faced in certain portions of the projects, which were then clarified and resolved by the deputy commissioners concerned, and forest and land management officers.
NHIDCL Director (Finance/Admin) Satyabrata Sahu assured cooperation, and confirmed posting of two more general managers to oversee the projects in Arunachal Pradesh.
The meeting also discussed the proposed East-West Industrial Corridor to connect all the foothill areas,and the Arunachal Frontier Highway to connect the border areas in the upper reaches of the state. (CMO)
