The underpass which is coming up in Bank Tinali in Itanagar is again caught up in a deadline controversy. While the state government recently set 15 August as the deadline to complete the project, the PWD highway said that, in all probability, it will not be completed by then. It is believed that a culvert which was not part of the original design was added to the project at the last moment, thereby further delaying the work. While the PWD highway department and contractor TK Engineering have not given any fresh deadline, it seems that the project will be completed only by the end of August and the underpass might be opened to traffic by the first week of September.
The underpass is a very highly technical project and it is the first of its kind in the state. The PWD highway department cannot afford to commit any error while executing this project. It should not be opened to traffic unless every aspect is properly checked. Just to meet deadlines, unnecessary pressure should not be exerted on the contractor. This may lead to compromising with work quality and it will have serious repercussions. The contractor, the PWD highway and the ICR administration should jointly work to ensure that the underpass is constructed by strictly adhering to the norms. In quest for a deadline, the work quality should not be compromised at any cost.