Oscar Fernandes take stock of road projects in north east

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Oscar Fernandes has reviewed the progress of road projects in the north east region.

DoNER Minister Paban Singh Ghatowar, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Sathyanarayana Sarvey, Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Nabam Tuki, Chief Minister of Manipur Okram Ibobi Singh and other Ministers of the States in the region were also present during the meeting held here on Friday.

The review intended to appreciate the concerns of the State Governments in the Region, prioritize the important issues, find out way forward to address the same and also for giving impetus to momentum of implementation of projects.

The Union Minister intends to embark upon visits in each of the States in the Region and take a holistic view on the demands raised by them.

Various decisions taken by the Ministry were also announced during the meeting. These include carrying out feasibility study for the important newly declared NH-127 B connecting Srirampur to Phulbari via Dhubri including construction of a bridge over river Brahmaputra, invitation of Request for Qualification (RFQ) for widening NH-37 between Numaligarh - Jorhat - Demow - Dibrugarh to 4-lane standards on BOT (Annuity) basis, to provide 4-lane connectivity to Itanagar from Nagaon via Holongi, to carry out feasibility study for construction of Imphal bypass.

The decision also included to conduct a feasibility study for an alternative / additional highway between Chumukedima near Dimapur in Nagaland and Maram in Manipur on NH-39 to avoid sinking zones in Nagaland and Manipur on NH-39 so as to tackle perennial problem of frequent traffic disruptions, to extend the Maram - Peren road taken up under SARDP-NE Phase "A" to connect with Dimapur via Ghaspani to provide alternative connectivity to Manipur and also develop about 65 km of road in Nagaland.

Further, recently the Ministry issued sanctions for Jowai bypass as also revised estimate for Shillong - Nongstoin - Tura road under SARDP-NE in the State of Meghalaya.