CORRESPONDENT
ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Thursday urged the agencies working on the Trans-Arunachal Highway (TAH) stretch from Potin to Pangin to tighten up their belts and complete the road within the set timeline by November this year. Khandu, who is on a road trip from Itanagar to Mechuka, a major portion of which passes through the Potin-Pangin stretch, expressed concern over the slow progress of work, especially in packages 3 and 4.
Speaking at the Golden Jubilee Mopin celebration at Daporijo in Upper Subansiri district, Khandu said that while the portions of TAH in other districts of the state are almost complete and functional, the delay on the 400-km Potin-Pangin stretch is intriguing. He informed that the work on packages one and two is satisfactory, but the slow progress on packages three and four is a cause for concern. The Potin-Pangin stretch of the highway earlier was under a single package. On request of the state government, the stretch was divided into nine packages and work allotted to different construction agencies, a CMO communiqué informed here.
"Package 2 is 99 per cent complete, while Package 1 is fully complete. However, I have been informed that the progress of work on package 4 is 61 per cent and on package 5 is only 53 per cent. This is worrisome as all the packages were tendered together and the work allotted on the same date," he said. Khandu informed that during his inspection of the highway, he personally spoke to the chief engineer of highways and directed him to personally travel on these stretches and monitor the progress once every month.
"As per agreement, these packages should be completed by November this year. We still have 6-7 months at hand to ensure that the timeline is maintained at any cost without compromising the work quality," he said. He appealed to all concerned legislators, senior leaders, panchayat members, and the district administration to closely monitor the progress of work regularly. Khandu admitted that during such large-scale construction works, initial hiccups are bound to come and appealed to the people to have patience. "During road widening works, commuters will face difficulties, but that is part and parcel of development. We have to bear it for our own good," he said.
The chief minister added that his road trip has been planned to personally see the progress of work on the central zone section of the TAH. "From Daporijo, I will be travelling to Mechuka via Aalo. I have been told that work on the Aalo-Mechuka road has also slowed down. I will personally inspect the same," he informed.
Connectivity, Khandu observed, has been a major challenge for the state since the beginning. He however asserted that since Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of the country, the road connectivity sector had received special attention. "We are eyewitnesses to the boost in the road connectivity sector in our state since Modi became the PM. We cannot deny this fact," he claimed. He said that Arunachal Pradesh has been especially lucky to get the attention of the Prime Minister, which can be vouched for by the fact that recently the union ministry of roads, transport, and highways approved the construction of a Frontier Highway and inter-connectivity roads in the state.
"Not only road connectivity, but rail and air connectivity has also seen a massive haul only in recent times," he added. Meanwhile, wishing the Galo community on the auspicious occasion of Mopin and its golden jubilee celebration at Daporijo, Khandu assured to allocate funds within this financial year for the construction of a common festival ground in the township, the communiqué added.