NE MPs plead with PM to review NH-transfer decision

Itanagar, May 18 (UNI) The North East MPs' Forum(NEMPF) today urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to reconsider the decision of handing over National Highway 52 to the Asom PWD and allow the Border Roads Organisation(BRO) to continue maintaining the important road.

In a memorandum submitted to Dr Singh 29 MPs of the total 33 members of the NEMPF questioned the logic of Union Surface Transport Minister T R Ballu in handing over the highway to the BRO in 2002.

The highway was a blessing for the people of land-locked Arunachal Pradesh in particular and the entire neglected region in general, the memorandum said.

However, it stated, ''Retransferring the highway after it was made traffic-worthy by the BRO within five years by deploying its men and materials all along the 311-km highway from Baihata Chariali to Banderdewa was against the PM's announcement at Guwahati.'' Opposing the decision, the NEMPF alleged that the Asom PWD had proved its inefficiency not only in maintaining NH 52, but also many other state roads. That is why this decision had evoked strong protests from the Arunachal Chamber of Commerce and Industries(ACCI) as well as its Tezpur and North Lakhimpur counterparts, the memorandum added.

UNI