Silchar: The deadlock in the East-West Corridor project has finally ended as the ministry of road transport and highways has recently given the green signal for the construction of a 31km road from Balacherra to Harangajao which has been in a shambles for several years.
The project to connect Silchar with Saurashtra (via road) was announced by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on October 10, 1998. The 3,300km Silchar-Saurashtra road was supposed to be completed by 2007.
Talking to this correspondent on Thursday afternoon, Cachar deputy commissioner S. Lakshmanan, who inspected the stretch on Wednesday, said the issue of forest/environmental clearance - for which there has been a pause in road work from Balacherra to Harangajao - has been resolved and road work will begin soon. He said work on the stretch, which will be a four-lane route, will simultaneously be done in two parts - in Haflong and Balacherra.
Lakshmanan said the stretch, which passes through Borail wildlife sanctuary, is at present in a terrible condition and some huge landslides have worsened the situation.
He added there are deep gorges at certain locations for which there will be certain deviations in road alignment. "Besides gorges, deviations will be made to save forest lands," he said.
The commissioner of hills and Barak Valley division Anwar Uddin Choudhury accompanied Lakshmanan during the inspection.
Sources said Rs 818.44 crore has been earmarked by the Centre in the recent past for the corridor project of which Rs 576.30 crore will be spent on the four-lane road. Besides, three bridges, three tunnels and 14 culverts will be built between Balacherra and Harangajao.
They said Sushee Infra, a construction company, has been assigned the road work and work order has been issued.
According to sources, the stretch between Balacherra to Harangajao is in abysmal condition in many areas including Balacherra, Durbintilla, Devinala, Harangajao and a few others.
The foundation stone for the corridor project was laid by then minister for surface transport B.C. Khanduri and Union finance minister Jaswant Singh in 2004.
