Guwahati: The National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) has floated tenders to repair National Highway 37, which connects Guwahati to Upper Assam, and the work will start next month, Assam PWD minister Parimal Suklabaidya said on Saturday.

Suklabaidya, while carrying out an inspection of the ongoing road-repair projects here, said the Centre has released around Rs 100 crore for repair and restoration of the highway.

"Allotment of tenders by the NHIDCL will be completed by the middle of this month and the work will start next month. People will get some relief from December," he added.

For the past couple of years, commuters travelling on the stretch of the highway between Nagaon and Dibrugarh were having a harrowing time owing to poor road conditions. The minister said the contractors, engaged by the NHIDCL for four-laning of the highway from Nagaon to Dibrugarh, had not taken up the expansion work because of non-completion of land acquisition.

"After our government came to power last year, we expedited the land acquisition process and completed it. The contractors neither started the four-laning work nor carried out any restoration process of the highway. Therefore, the condition of the road deteriorated," Suklabaidya said.

"We took up the matter with Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari and requested him to repair the highway till the four-laning work is completed. Gadkari had agreed to our proposal and sanctioned around Rs 100 crore," he added.

Recently, chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal has expressed displeasure over the condition of the highway and asked the NHIDCL to carry out the repairs expeditiously.