Aasu stir in Dibrugarh over slow progress of 4-lane highway project

Dibrugarh: The All Assam Students’ Union (Aasu) formed a human chain at Lepetkata in Dibrugarh on Monday to protest against the sluggish pace of construction of the four-lane project between Moran town to Bogibeel Junction on the National Highway-37.
Union minister of shipping, road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari had laid the foundation of the project on February 27, 2016. However, due to the slow pace of work, the Rs 330.3-crore road infrastructure project has made a progress of just 63.47% in all these years. M/s Manaranjan Brahma (MB), which is executing the project, missed the NHIDCL’s deadline of completing the project on February 12 last year. The NHIDCL has set a new deadline of June 30, which is unlikely to be achieved with over 35% work still unfinished.
“People are facing lots of inconveniences due to the slow progress of the four-lane project. There are also many discrepancies in the construction work. The condition of the existing road has gone from bad to worse. The entire stretch of the highway is covered with huge potholes and some of them are knee-deep. People travelling to Guwahati and beyond have to use this route. Several vehicles have met with accidents on the highway because of lack of maintenance of the service road by the construction agency. We urge the chief minister to look into the matter,” said Dibrugarh district Aasu unit president Bulbul Dutta.