New Delhi: Insurgency has hit a portion of
NHAI's East West Corridor project in strife-torn North Cachar
Hills district in Assam, causing delays in the project to
connect Silchar in Assam to Porbandar in Gujarat, the
government has said on Wednesday.
The 3,442 km East-West Corridor project passes through
the states of Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat and the work on it was started
in 2004.
"Out of the balance 445 km (from 670 km in Assam), 5
works totalling length of 115 km in North Cachar Hills have
been foreclosed due to insurgency problems, in addition to
delay in land acquisition problem and forest clearance,"
Minister of State for Highways RPN Singh told Rajya Sabha.
Only 225 km of the 670 km length in Assam could be
completed, he said, adding, "the main reason for delay in
balance ongoing works are delay in land acquisition, shifting
of utilities and forest clearances."
While work is on in several stretches, work for 242 km is
yet to be awarded, Singh said saying that the ongoing projects
of the corridor was likely to be "substantially completed by
December 2011."
Singh said of the total 3,442 km length of the E-W
project, four-laning of 2,505 km has been completed.
On steps to expedite the project, he said that the
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has set up 12
regional offices headed by chief general managers for close
monitoring and speedy implementation of schemes.
Most state governments have appointed Chief Secretaries
as nodal officers for National Highway Development Projects
(NHDP) to review progress of pre-construction activities.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, November 10, 2010, 17:34