Narbula: Raising issues

Darjeeling, Aug. 16: The Union ministry of road transport and highways has admitted that the repair job along National Highway 55 has been unsatisfactory and that a new contract has been drawn up for fresh work on the stretch.

A letter from K.H. Muniappa, minister of state, road transport and highways, to Dawa Narbula, the Darjeeling MP, states: “For the freshly laid bituminous concrete, the traffic had to be stopped for some time to achieve the minimum desired strength but due to narrow width of this road, this could not be achieved. Hence the competed work was not satisfactory.”

The minister’s response comes after Narbula raised the issue in Parliament in March. Fresh tenders worth Rs 2 crore for the (4 km to 42) km stretch on the Darjeeling-Siliguri road have already been floated.

National Highway Division IX has also decided to release AVS Construction — the earlier company that had done the repair work — of its responsibilities though a section of officials believes that the company cannot be blamed for it. “The end result was not good due to certain technical problems like narrow road, lack of enough space to set up hot mix plant at strategic location and inclement weather,” said a National Highway official. Non-completion of work within the stipulated time was the major grievance against the company, he added.

This time, the ministry has decided to use “premix coating” and “seal coat” technology instead of “mix seal surfacing” used by AVS Construction. Though “mix seal surfacing” is considered the latest technology, space constraint and traffic flow were the impediments to the desired result. The two technologies essentially differ in the composition of various ingredients used in laying the roads.

Though AVS Constructions had bagged the Rs 4.3 crore contract for repair of the stretch, the entire payment had not been done and so the fresh repair will be carried out from the remaining sum of the contract. “Since about Rs 2 crore was left, the same money will be used for new repairs. The work has been given to three sets of contractors and is expected to be completed by December,” said Manoj Pandey, assistant engineer, National Highway Division IX .