Assam: NHIDCL terminates contract for Moran-Bogibeel package

Slow progress of four-lane NH works

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The NHIDCL (National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd.) headquarters in New Delhi has terminated their contract with a construction company engaged in the four-lane NH work in upper Assam due to the slow progress of the work.

The lingering delay in the construction of the four-lane NH work in upper Assam has long been giving travellers a harrowing experience. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had to take up the issue with Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari several times for the speedy completion of the construction works.

The NHIDCL examined the performances of the contractors engaged in the construction of the four-lane national highways in upper Assam and terminated its contract in a stretch from the End of Moran Bypass to Bogibeel Junction near Lapetkata. This package is under the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme (SARDP-NE) of the Union Ministry.

According to sources in the NHIDCL regional office in Guwahati, M/s Manoranjan Brahma is a construction company engaged in the End of Moran Bypass to Bogibeel Junction near Lapetkata in EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) mode. During the examination of the progress of work, NHIDCL found that this construction company was lagging far behind schedule and missed several scheduled milestones. NHIDCL did issue a notice (intention to terminate) to the construction company and finally terminated the contract with it.

The 19.18-km End of Moran Bypass to Bogibeel Junction stretch on the National Highway-37 near Lapetkata had June 2019 as the appointment date (the date of starting the work) for the construction company, M/s Manoranjan Brahma. The scheduled completion date of the stretch was December 2021. However, as of August 31, 2023, the physical progress of the project work was 65.29 percent.

Meanwhile, NHIDCL floated fresh international competitive bids for the construction of the remaining works of the NH stretch from the End of Moran Bypass to Bogibeel Junction on the National Highway-37. In the fresh bidding, the NHIDCL has divided the remaining work of the stretch into two packages. The estimated cost of one of the two packages is Rs. 66.64 crore, and that of the other package is Rs. 32.82 crore. According to the fresh bidding, the completion time of both packages (the remaining works) is six months.

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