Kohima, Oct 28: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today announced that the Golden Quadrilateral which ends at Silchar would be extended to Kohima with a four-lane highway, fulfilling the demand of the Nagaland government. ``Earlier, the ambitious highway network was planned to come up to Silchar, today I am happy to announce that Kohima will also be connected to this project with a four-lane highway,`` Vajpayee said addressing a mammoth gathering at Indira Gandhi Stadium here.
The Prime Minister announced that the centre would spend Rs 400 crore on widening this road on National Highway-39 and work would start next year.
Vajpayee also promised Rs 50 crore central assistance for construction of certain roads in the state but with the condition that they must be far better than the existing ones.
Inclement weather yesterday forced Vajpayee to take to the road travelling on the dilapidated 75 km stretch of NH-39 on the mountains.
``Speaking of roads in Nagaland, I have to say that I had a first hand experience yesterday. Mother nature wanted me to take the road journey from Dimapur to Kohima. I was told that of all the roads in the state, this is the best. If this is the best, it is difficult to imagine how bad is the worst, Vajpayee said.
Bureau Report