Chief Minister Pema Khandu this evening formally dedicated the 4-lane highway (NH 415, Package A) about 10 Kms from Chandranagar in Itanagar to Papunallah in Naharlagun to the people of the state. He, along with Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, who also holds the Power portfolio, inaugurated the street light system by remotely switching on the lights.
Khandu had on 1stOctober, 2020 announced his resignation if the said road was not completed – except for bridges and the underpass at Bank Tinali – by March 31, 2021.
“I had full faith in our engineers, contractors and the district administration that’s why I had made that announcement. Congratulations to all for keeping the faith alive,” he said congratulating all involved in completion of the project.
“Now our next target is Package B, which is from Papunallah to Nirjuli(11.3 Km) and Package C, from Nirjuli to Banderdewa (7.464 Km),” he added.
PWD (Highway) officials informed that the tender process has already been completed and agreements have been signed for both the packages have been handed over to the contractors. However, works haven’t started on both the packages as the department has to hand over at least 90% of encumbrance-free land to the contractors.
When queried by Khandu on the reasons, the Capital Deputy Commissioner informed that a survey on the ground has already started and issues like compensation are being studied.
The Chief Minister reiterated that when the process of a project gets going, everyone should ensure that it is completed on time. He regretted that the present project at hand shot over the scheduled time period.
“The underpass construction at Bank Tinali is causing huge inconvenience to commuters. So please ensure that it is completed by April 27 next as scheduled,” he advised.
He also lauded the Power department and its officials of the capital division under Executive Engineer JoramLali for installation of the innovative ‘smart lighting’ along the highway in record time.
The lighting system is app based and can be controlled remotely, first of its kind in the state. Officials said that even intensity of the light can be controlled from the app.
Khandu said that the government is now determined to extend the street lights connectivity to all sectors of the capital.
“I have just returned an hour ago from Vijaynagar. I travelled there by road to know the ground reality of the ever-languishing project. I have set a challenge for myself to make the Miao-Vijaynagar road motorable by March 31, 2022,” he informed.
He further informed that soon he will travel by road to Tali, the only assembly constituency in that state that doesn’t have road connectivity yet and assured that by March 2022, the scenario will change.
Mein too congratulated the officials of the Highway and Power departments and T K Engineering (contractor) for completing the job as promised by the chief minister.
“Our Chief Minister took it as a challenge. And the government officials and the contractors followed suit and also took it as a challenge. It is indeed a great achievement that we have collectively won the challenge,” he said.
As a gesture of appreciation, all officials of the district administration including ADM TaloPotom, PWD, Power, T K Engineering and Bajaj Electricals involved in the highway and lighting projects were felicitated by Khandu, Mein and Home Minister Bamang Felix.
