Angami Youth Organization (AYO) has urged the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) to expedite the works of the ongoing four-lane road project on NH-29 (Asian Highway –I), which is supposed to be completed by the end of 2019.
In a representation addressed to the director (A&F) NHIDCL, the AYO president, Neinguvotuo Krose, and general secretary, Kekhrie Pfukha, stated that the organisation had been assuring the firms/contractors of its unfailing support should any untoward circumstances arise that could disturb their work.
However, AYO said it was disheartening to see a national company was “seriously and pathetically incompetent to deliver in their responsibility.”
Pointing out that road construction in Nagaland can be adversely affected by heavy torrential rain during the monsoon season, AYO said the period suitable for road construction was only about six months (November-April) before the monsoon sets in again.
The organisation lamented that in the last two seasons the firms/contractors had been very lackadaisical in their progress.
“The public had been voicing their complaints repeatedly about their slow progress to no avail. And given the present pace of work progress, it is simply entirely impossible to accomplish the said work in the stated stipulated time,” AYO stated.
Further, pointing out that the highway was the only lifeline for Nagaland and Manipur, AYO urged the NHIDCL to “imagine to what extent this road disruption through the ongoing expansion work is entailing the citizen of both the two states.”
In the light of the above, AYO has demanded that the contracting agency immediately activate all their machineries, which were lying idle most of the time. It also demanded expediting the work at the earliest in order to meet the contracting deadline without compromising the quality of workmanship.
The organisation cautioned the concerned agency “not to give lame excuses and unpalatable pretext to evade responsibility under any circumstances.”