ITANAGAR, Nov 9: To make sure that the ongoing construction work of the 4-lane highway NH 415 under Package A meets the March 2021 completion deadline, Chief Minister Pema Khandu has constituted a Committee which will monitor its progress 24x7 and coordinate with the implementing agency.
Announcing the decision today during a review meeting with the PWD Highway Zone, MoRTH representatives and representative of TK Engineering, the executing agency, Khandu said the Committee besides monitoring the project’s daily progress will coordinate with the executing agency to facilitate ease of work and liaise with the concerned government agencies to remove hurdles, if any. The Committee will be headed by Design & Planning (PWD) Chief Engineer Atop Lego with Joint Secretary to CM Kangki Darang, OSD to CM Lham Tashi and Consultant Pradeep Mehta as members. Home Minister Bamang Felix and Advisers to the PWD Minister, Phosum Khimhun (EZ) and Phurpa Tsering (WZ) will personally monitor the work progress on a daily basis.
After being apprised by the PWD Highway Zone, the Chief Minister urged the CMD of TK Engineering Rotu Techi to immediately overhaul his men and machinery deployed in construction of the stretch from Chandranagar to Papu Nallah in the state capital. “Common people are suffering a lot. Therefore, we are not going to accept any excuses. Complete the stretch before March,” he ordered and instructed the CMD to increase the number of labourers, bring in sufficient material and deploy adequate tools and plants immediately. While suggesting the executing agency to plan shorter work-charts of 10-day durations, the Chief Minister opined that if micro-level completion targets are attained, the project might be completed even by February.
Joining the discussion, Felix asserted that the state machinery is fully committed to the project and will extend any kind of assistance needed by the agency. However, he issued the caveat that since the ball is now in the contractors’ court, for any delay they will be the only to be blamed. “On behalf of the Home department, I assure you round the clock security and protection. In return, you just have to complete the project within deadline,” he said. Advisers to the PWD Minister while assuring full cooperation and coordination with the contractors demanded there should be an immediate reflection of tangible progress of works.
Admitting that progress on the said stretch suffered due to the pandemic, the TK Engineering CMD however assured that except for the underpass and two bridges, rest of the work would be completed before March 2021. While stating that shortage of materials and tools and plants are not the issues, he informed that engaging labourers in adequate numbers has been a hurdle, adding that the issue is being resolved with labourers coming from states like Bihar, Jharkhand etc.
The 10.9 km (Package A) stretch of NH 415 consists of 2 bridges, 36 culverts, 1 underpass, 9.83 km protection wall and 17.025 km side drains. Although the work on one of the bridges (Chandranagar) is under progress, work on the other (also in Chandranagar) is yet to commence. Meanwhile, it was informed during the meeting that all decks for the remaining stretch from Papu Nallah to Banderdewa (Package B and C) have been cleared by MoRTH and the tendering process for Package B is underway, to be followed by Package C. 
Statuses of several other projects under the PWD were also discussed. Commissioner PWD, Secretary PWD and high-level officials of the Highway Zone participated in the meeting. CMO

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
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