Govt approves road construction in Arunachal Pradesh

Approval for the construction of 6,418 km of roads in Arunachal Pradesh was given by the Union Road Transport and Highways (RTH) ministry. Phase A of this project is proposed to be implemented under the Special Accelerated Road Development Project-North East (SARDP-NE) and the Arunachal Pradesh package of roads and highways.

Phase A proposed to be completed by March, 2017:

Of the total of 10,141 km of road construction to be taken up under the Road Transport and Highways ministry’ s SARDP-NE proposal, 6,418 km would be implemented under Phase A. Approval for the preparation of a detailed project report of the remaining 3,723 km of roads has been given by the Center under the Phase B of the programme. The Union minister for Road Transport and Highways announced that the Phase A as well as the Arunachal Pradesh package were proposed to be completed by March, 2017.

Land acquisition issues and clearances cause inordinate delay:

The minister conceded that there has been considerable delay in the completion of road projects in all north-eastern states. The reasons attributed for the delay were related to land acquisition issues and environment and forest clearances. Besides, poor mobilisation of contractors was also cited as a reason for the delay in projects. The minister also confirmed that non-performing contractors would be debarred from being assigned any future work.

Additional director general will be assisted by three chief engineers:

The minister also announced that one additional director general would be assigned for the north-east region at Guwahati. Besides, he will be assisted by three chief engineers. These engineers would be posted at Guwahati, Itanagar and Agartala and would be involved with the pre-construction activities related with the project.