TDC warns PIL over NH-37 project
|
By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jul 8: Rs 1,300 crore sanctioned in 2022 and Rs 1,040 crore already released and spent, yet the National Highway-37 remains one of the worst highways and some portions of it even worse than some finely built inter-village roads. This means 80 pc of the sanctioned amount has been released.
Irked by the poor implementation of the project and failure to properly repair damaged sections of the highway, Transporters' and Drivers' Council (TDC) has said it may approach the Court and file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL).
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had sanctioned Rs 1,300 crore in 2022 to widen and upgrade 203 km section of the National Highway-37 to an all weather road.
Of the total amount, Rs 1,040 crore [80 percent] has already been released and spent. But, the NHIDCL has nothing to show so far. The highway is still broken at many places and filled with knee deep mud, TDC president Hijam Ranjit said.
80 percent of the total fund has been released and utilised, but there is no real progress on the ground. Some sections of the highway have deteriorated during monsoon in absence of sincere efforts to reconstruct and repair on the part of the NHIDCL, Ranjit said.
The Imphal-Jiribam road was declared a National Highway (53) in 1971 by then Lieutenant Governor DR Kohli. Since then the highway has changed hands from the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to the NHIDCL, but without much improvement, Ranjit said.
While the NHIDCL hasn't done its job quite sincerely, it has claimed that the condition of the road has deteriorated due to increase in traffic, Ranjit said.
While traffic has indeed increased since violent conflict broke out in May 2023, the number of vehicles traversing the road daily however has not exceeded 500, Ranjit said.
"There are highways in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and other States which handle more volume of traffic than NH-37, but the condition of these highways remains good and pristine. How will the NHIDCL explain this if it claims the increase in volume of traffic is the reason for the deteriorating condition of the NH-37?" Ranjit asked.
The NHIDCL may claim otherwise, but the condition of the highway in Kaiphundai, Shantikhunou, Barak, Nungba, Rengpang and Irang stretches bear evidence of its negligence, failure to maintain quality and poor execution of work, Ranjit said.
A journey which would take only 4-5 hours is now taking days. Many sections of the highway remain single lane. All of these point to NHIDCL's negligence and raise suspicion of the company and firms involved in siphoning off funds, Ranjit added.
While the NHIDCL is not even executing the road repairing work at present sincerely, its claim that it will complete the entire project by December 2026 seems far-fetched, Ranjit said. In the interest of the people of the State, the NHIDCL must execute the work sincerely, meeting all specifications required of a highway. Otherwise, the Transporters' and Drivers' Council may be compelled to file a PIL in the Court, Ranjit added.
IMPHAL, Jul 8: Rs 1,300 crore sanctioned in 2022 and Rs 1,040 crore already released and spent, yet the National Highway-37 remains one of the worst highways and some portions of it even worse than some finely built inter-village roads. This means 80 pc of the sanctioned amount has been released.
Irked by the poor implementation of the project and failure to properly repair damaged sections of the highway, Transporters' and Drivers' Council (TDC) has said it may approach the Court and file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL).
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had sanctioned Rs 1,300 crore in 2022 to widen and upgrade 203 km section of the National Highway-37 to an all weather road.
Of the total amount, Rs 1,040 crore [80 percent] has already been released and spent. But, the NHIDCL has nothing to show so far. The highway is still broken at many places and filled with knee deep mud, TDC president Hijam Ranjit said.
80 percent of the total fund has been released and utilised, but there is no real progress on the ground. Some sections of the highway have deteriorated during monsoon in absence of sincere efforts to reconstruct and repair on the part of the NHIDCL, Ranjit said.
The Imphal-Jiribam road was declared a National Highway (53) in 1971 by then Lieutenant Governor DR Kohli. Since then the highway has changed hands from the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to the NHIDCL, but without much improvement, Ranjit said.
While the NHIDCL hasn't done its job quite sincerely, it has claimed that the condition of the road has deteriorated due to increase in traffic, Ranjit said.
While traffic has indeed increased since violent conflict broke out in May 2023, the number of vehicles traversing the road daily however has not exceeded 500, Ranjit said.
"There are highways in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and other States which handle more volume of traffic than NH-37, but the condition of these highways remains good and pristine. How will the NHIDCL explain this if it claims the increase in volume of traffic is the reason for the deteriorating condition of the NH-37?" Ranjit asked.
The NHIDCL may claim otherwise, but the condition of the highway in Kaiphundai, Shantikhunou, Barak, Nungba, Rengpang and Irang stretches bear evidence of its negligence, failure to maintain quality and poor execution of work, Ranjit said.
A journey which would take only 4-5 hours is now taking days. Many sections of the highway remain single lane. All of these point to NHIDCL's negligence and raise suspicion of the company and firms involved in siphoning off funds, Ranjit added.
While the NHIDCL is not even executing the road repairing work at present sincerely, its claim that it will complete the entire project by December 2026 seems far-fetched, Ranjit said. In the interest of the people of the State, the NHIDCL must execute the work sincerely, meeting all specifications required of a highway. Otherwise, the Transporters' and Drivers' Council may be compelled to file a PIL in the Court, Ranjit added.