Meghalaya to reconsider road alignment

SHILLONG: Responding to a calling attention motion by Conrad Sangma, PWD minister HDR Lyngdoh has told the house that several organizations were opposed to the proposed Umsning bypass. "This was because the proposed alignment would pass through a church, playground, houses and agricultural lands," he said on Friday.

The minister assured that the demand of the people would not be over-looked or rejected and that the government would finalize the realignment keeping in mind the local sentiments.

"The department will re-examine the case and take corrective measures at the earliest," he said, adding that the chief minister too had assured the house in this regard.

Lyngdoh informed the house that the project was for four-laning including strengthening of the road under Special Accelerated Road Development Programme in North East. It involved 61.8 km stretch and 181.97 hectares of land from Jorabat to Umiam (Barapani) at a cost of about Rs 753 crore inclusive of land compensation.

The Union ministry of road transport and highways has entrusted the work to the NHAI, which begun construction in December last year, the minister said.