Agencies
GUWAHATI, JULY 31
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]HE Centre is thinking of floating a special corporation to speed up road work in the northeast, where construction to improve road connectivity is progressing slowly.
Nitin Gadkari, the Union minister for road transport, highways and shipping, during a recent review meeting in New Delhi on the implementation of road projects in different parts of the country, announced that a special corporation has been proposed to undertake the projects in the northeast.
Various agencies and trade bodies have expressed unhappiness over the slow progress of road projects in the strategically important northeast, a region which shares international borders with multiple neighbouring countries, especially China. Business experts are of the opinion that proper road connectivity can be the fulcrum of growth in the economically backward northeast region of India.The UPA government took a major initiative by funding road projects in the northeast under the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme (SARDP-NE).
However, slow implementation of the project had been one of the major concerns of the government at the time.
For “Phase A” of SARDP-NE and Arunachal Pradesh, Rs 33, 688 crore has been earmarked for constructing a road that is 6,418 km long. Last year, Rs 3,100 crore had been budgeted for the construction of a 2000 km long road in the region.
Last year, at a review meeting in Guwahati, officials of the ministry expressed concern that the progress of road construction work in the northeast was almost two times slower than in the rest of the country. Delay in land acquisitions and forest clearance were cited as some of the factors identified in slowing the progress of road construction.
In the latest review meeting under Gadkari, the ministry has decided that problems related to the infrastructure sector will now be resolved at monthly meetings, which will be attended by the cabinet secretary, the principal secretary to the Prime Minister and representatives of other concerned ministries and departments such as railways, defence, environment and forests.
Gadkari has also sought the cooperation of the state government in sorting out the bottlenecks impeding the progress of infrastructure.
