The chief minister’s office (CMO) recently informed that Chief Minister Pema Khandu is monitoring the progress of the construction of the four-lane National Highway 415 from Itanagar to Naharlagun. Joint secretary in the CMO, Kangki Darrang, made field visits and assessed the progress of work. After much hue and cry, the CMO has finally intervened in the four-lane highway issue. It is good to see it taking the initiative, but it should be a continuous process. The work’s progress should be regularly monitored by the government as the PWD highway has miserably failed to fast-track the work.
The issue of shifting of utilities has been creating bottlenecks on several stretches. Departments like power and PHE&WS have been slow in shifting their assets from the proposed highway. On several stretches, electric poles and water pipelines are yet to be fully shifted out. Also, some of the landowners are believed to have filed cases in the high court over the compensation issue. The CMO will have to intervene to resolve these issues if it is serious about speeding up the work. Or else the people will think that it is doing it just for publicity’s sake and to portray as if the CM is concerned about the four-lane works.
Further, the remaining stretches from Papu Hill to Nirjuli and from Nirjuli to Banderdewa are yet to be sanctioned by the ministry of road, transport & highways. The government of Arunachal should take up the matter with the ministry and ensure early sanctioning of the project. The people of the capital region are facing a horrid time due to the poor road condition. Apart from the four-lane highway, the government should start making a long-term plan and construct ring roads to ease the traffic congestions in the capital complex. In future, the Itanagar-Banderdewa four-lane highway alone will not be able to absorb the traffic.