ITANAGAR, 27 Aug: The approximately 2,396-kilometre long Trans-Arunachal Highway (TAH), which would connect 16 districts of Arunachal, is being constructed by four agencies, Chief Minister Pema Khandu informed the assembly on Friday.
The state public works department (PWD), the ministry of road transport and highway (MoRTH), the National Highway Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) and the Border Roads Organization (BRO) are executing the project announced by the then prime minister Manmohan Singh here in January 2008.
The TAH will run from Tawang in western Arunachal to Kanubari in Longding district in the south-eastern part of the state.
Responding to a question from Congress MLA Nabam Tuki, the chief minister said that the total length of the national highways under the TAH entrusted to the state PWD is 978 kms, out of which a stretch of 394.59 kms is complete while the remaining 583.41 kms is under construction.
The remaining portion is targeted for completion by 2024, said Khandu, who also holds the PWD portfolio.
The NHIDCL is constructing 753 kms of the TAH, while the BRO and the MoRTH are building two other stretches – 324 kms and 341 kms, respectively.
Khandu said the MoRTH had allocated to the state PWD Rs 22.15 crores during 2020-21 for periodical renewal and re-carpeting, with another amount of Rs 15.50 crores for ordinary repair.
Moreover, he said, Rs 20 crores and Rs 15.42 crores were allocated for re-carpeting and ordinary repair works during the current fiscal.
The chief minister added that, as per the guidelines, the contractors have to maintain the roads for three years. However, due to the lengthy monsoon season in the state, it is not possible for them to carry out maintenance works, he said.
“We have requested the MoRTH to allocate funds for carrying out repair and maintenance works of the constructed roads. The ministry allocates only 20 percent fund, which is a cause of concern,” Khandu said.
The Arunachal government has time and again requested the ministry not to compare the topography of the northeastern state with others and sanction adequate funds for repair and maintenance of roads, the chief minister said. (PTI)
DIPR adds: UD Minister Kamlung Mossang informed the house that a “smart city advisory forum” has been constituted and CEO appointed as per the smart city guidelines, adding that “projects proposed and taken up under the smart city schemes are at different stages of progress.”
Mossang was replying to a query raised by Itanagar MLA Techi Kaso on the Itanagar smart city project.
The minister informed that the project was selected in 2018 and various committees constituted under the scheme. “The Centre has released Rs 151 crores, but funds couldn’t be utilized due to Covid-19,” he added.
