Road repair work in Thahekhu at snail’s pace

[caption id="attachment_284782" align="aligncenter" width="600"] A group of individuals rest near a road roller along the road in Thahekhu village that is undergoing repairs.[/caption] Our Reporter Dimapur, Nov. 27 (EMN): It has been two years since road repair work at Thahekhu village started but it is nowhere near completion, causing inconvenience to the commuters and the people in the area. According to reports, upgrading of the path leading to the two-lane road from Dhobinullah in Dimapur to Diphu in Assam via Thahekhu till Sangtamtilla was tendered out in 2017 for INR 18 crore under the Inter State Connectivity (ISC) scheme. Speaking to Eastern Mirror, the chairman of Thaheku village, Khekuto Yeptho said that the road repair work is going on at a “very slow pace” and the village council members have asked the concerned firm/contractor to finish as per DPR. Yeptho also informed that the eight-kilometre stretch of road from Dhobinullah till Sangtamtilla via Thaheku is supposed to be repaired but construction work is going on only from Thahekhu gate till the railway crossing. “The department is supervising but it is taking so long for the stretch to be completed,” Yeptho said. Speaking specifically about the road entering from the left side of Thahekhu tower junction while coming from Dhobinullah side and exiting at GHS Thahekhu, the chairman informed that construction of retaining walls, culverts and others are yet to begin. “Usually, the stipulated time frame is 36 months, and maybe get an extension but it looks like it will take much longer,” Yeptho said. Earlier, the Thahekhu village council (TVC) had issued a notice stating that the specified route for heavy vehicles falls under the purview of the state PWD. However, the council and Thahekhu village development board have been annually maintaining the road with their limited resources. In this regard, the TVC has appealed to the responsible department to maintain the road, which has been neglected for the last 10-15 years. Earlier this year, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) also issued a press release demanding timely repair of the entire stretch of the road. It warned that the fund for this particular road should not be diverted to any other works. “The allocation already done for Dhobinullah to Diphu road must be solely utilised for the said project and JAC will not tolerate any diversion of funds,” it stated. “That the road and drainage from Dhobinullah to Thahekhu gate is in need of repair and therefore, the allocated fund should be utilised purely for the project. Way back in 2003, fund for road project from Thahekhu water point to Rangapahar-Sangtamtilla was also diverted for construction of Plaza Point foot over-bridge. And so this time, the JAC cautions the concerned department against any diversion of funds out of the Dhobinullah to Diphu road project,” the statement read. The committee had appealed to the “contractor/firm to properly construct, as per specifications, all the drainage and slabs along the entire road stretch as mentioned in the detailed project report.”