An excavator sits idle at the site of the Khanapara-Jorabat stretch of the East-West corridor on Friday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, June 25: Work on the much-delayed Khanapara-Jorabat stretch of the East-West corridor has come under the scanner after the regional office of the National Highway Authority of India here tried to change its alignment citing road “safety”.

A new sketch with the proposed change in alignment near the tri-junction at Jorabat has been prepared when only around 1km of the stretch remains to be completed. If implemented, the change could only delay the completion of the busy stretch, thus prolonging the suffering of commuters and vehicle owners, and leading to cost overrun, sources said.

On a given day, 15,000 vehicles ply on this stretch of National Highway 37, which was originally scheduled to have been completed by 2008.

The move attracted attention after advocate B. Choudhury served a legal notice to the Union minister for road transport and highways, the NHAI brass and the Assam and Meghalaya governments a month ago, accusing the top brass of the regional office of “forcing” the change with “vested” interests.

Choudhury alleged that “illegally changing” the existing alignment approved by the highest technical body of the NHAI and the ministry and after four-and-a-half years of working on the stretch only revealed that it could have been done by the regional office in the “interest” of a “petrol pump” and an automobile “showroom” along the route and “not” in Assam’s interests. He threatened to file a PIL in Gauhati High Court if no action was taken against the officials responsible for the move.

Sources said the notice had left both Dispur and the NHAI anxious and worried. After all, the 678km East West corridor project in the state is a national project monitored by the Prime Minister’s Office and is behind schedule by three years. Only around 90km have been completed till date. Any change in alignment at this late stage could delay the completion of the stretch by a year going by the pace of work.

Dispur has made its concern known to the regional office in no uncertain terms. It has handed over the advocate’s letter to the chief general manager in-charge of the regional office, S.S. Nahar, seeking reasons for the changes without keeping the state in the loop. Dispur is also set to move the NHAI to post a permanent CGM for smooth co-ordination and expedition of work on the ongoing projects.

The deputy general manager of NHAI, G.C. Mathur, wrote to the regional office on June 14, along with a copy of the advocate’s letter, seeking a status report/comment on “illegally” changing the alignment as soon as possible so that a suitable reply could be furnished to the lawyer.

Choudhury told The Telegraph that he had not yet received any response from anybody but had heard that Assam chief secretary N.K. Das was pursuing the issue. He said the alignment could have been “apparently” changed to favour a couple of business establishments. In his notice, he has also mentioned about the suo moto case taken up by the high court against the NHAI for not completing work on this stretch.

The NHAI had said it would complete the project in 2009. But sources said it would be difficult to complete the stretch this year if the alignment was changed.

Somesh Kumar, the Guwahati-based GM (Technical)/Project Director, however, mounted a strong defence in favour of the change. “The change in alignment has been proposed to ensure safety of traffic which can be carried out if we detect any problem. It is under examination. We are awaiting a decision. Since no land will be acquired or de-acquired, none will benefit. There is no financial involvement either. We are aware of the complaint but it is baseless,” he said.