Guwahati, May 17: Security concerns have stood in the way of the progress of Bongaigaon Thermal Power Project, an NTPC thermal plant at Salakati in Kokrajhar, work of which was commissioned in February 2008.

The project has missed the deadline and is waiting to be completed by 2012.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone of the Rs 4,375.35-crore 750MW project at Salakati on January 16, 2006. The new target date of completion is March 2012 instead of July 2011.

Only 40 per cent of work has been completed in unit I of the project till now, a plant official said.

“Contractors are getting calls on their cellphones asking them to shell out money; otherwise they will not be allowed to work,” a source in Salakati said, adding that companies were finding it difficult to post people at Salakati for work. An official also said contractors had been getting demand calls for money.

“We want to give work to the locals but they should work at least,” a plant official said.

In May last year, four persons of Pradeep Structural Development Private Ltd, a Calcutta-based construction company engaged by Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) for the NTPC project, were abducted when they were on their way to Salakati.

A meeting on the progress of the project was held in New Delhi last month at the DoNER ministry’s office. It was attended by director (projects), NTPC, B.P. Singh who refused to comment when contacted by The Telegraph.

The meeting reviewed infrastructure projects under delivery monitoring unit chaired by DoNER secretary Jayati Chandra and the Bongaingaon project was also discussed.

Delivery monitoring unit is a unit in the Prime Minister’s Office that monitors national projects in the Northeast. Sources said the contractors also complained to the Centre about the difficult work condition. The main civil contractor of the project is Subhash Projects and Marketing Ltd.

A security review committee has been constituted this month to ensure smooth work. Police have requested the contractors to bring to their notice any problem they were facing.

Bandh is another major obstacle. “At least two days are lost for a bandh — one before the bandh day and one on that day,” the source said.

According to a power ministry report, frequent bandhs and road blockades restrict movement of materials, affecting work.

Nearly four to five working days were lost because of bandhs and roadblocks in January this year.

The main plant is being constructed on the existing plant of the Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) and so no major land acquisition is involved. About 1.5 hectares of land, however, is to be acquired for a coal transportation corridor.