Muniyappa urges NE CMs to send concrete proposals on roads

Shilllong, Feb 8 (UNI) Minister of State in-charge of Shipping, Road and Highway Transport K H Muniyappa today urged the Chief Ministers of North Eastern states to send concrete proposals to his Ministry for development of the landlocked region.

'' The Union Government is always ready to provide infrastructure and fund, provided the state governments come forward with concrete proposals for the development of the region, '' Mr Muniyappa said at the sectoral summit on Roads at North Eastern Council secretariat here.

The Union Minister also expressed discontent over the road connectivity in the region, citing that Aizwal, Gangtok and Agartala are not connected by a two-lane National Highway.

'' Many district headquarters lack even a two-lane road connectivity, '' Mr Muniyappa said stressing the state governments to come forward with concrete proposals for development of roads.

He said the Ministry had also formulated a special programme for Accelerated Road Development in the region covering 7,616 km road to connect all state capitals with upgraded National Highways, to provide all weather roads to all the district headquarters of the region.

Roads of 1,310 km length have been approved by the Union Government for implementation, at an investment of Rs 4,618 crore for implementation, the Union Minister said adding the Border Roads Organisations and Asom PWD had started the implementation of 452 km roads.

The Union Minister also urged the Chief Ministers to constitute a Special Task Force for ensuring timely acquisition of land, forest clearance, shifting of utilities and to attend the problems of insurgency to enable the Union government to complete the roads projects in time.

'' We know the problems of the North East and my Ministry is fully committed to turning all roads and highway projects into reality, '' he stated.

On the East-West corridor, Mr Muniyappa said the construction of the high speed National Highway from Silchar to Shirampur in Asom is under construction. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has invested Rs 6,000 crore and the contracts have already been awarded for 629 km length at the cost of Rs 5,218 crore.

He said the NHAI had also been facing difficulties in obtaining environmental and forest clearance due to alignments of some stretches passing through wild life sanctuaries and national parks.

The two-day summit chaired by Union Minister in-charge Development of North Eastern Region Mani Shankar Aiyar was attended by Nagaland Governor and Chief Minister K Sankaranarayan and Neiphiu Rio, Meghalaya Governor and Chief Minister M M Jacob and J D Rymbai, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Gegong Apang besides PWD Ministers of the constituents states of the North East.

UNI