Taking cognisance of the “tardy progress” and inordinate delay in completion of the ongoing construction of the four-lane national highway 29 from Dimapur to Kohima, the Gauhati High Court, Kohima Bench has issued suo motu PIL where the Ministry of Road Transport and National Highways (MoRTH) and six others including the State government are Respondents.
A two-judge bench of the High Court– Justice Songkhupchung Serto and Justice Manish Choudhury, in its order drew attention to a report in a news daily that appeared on October 9, 2019 which stated that the construction of the four-lane road, entrusted to National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) began in the year 2015 with the stipulated completion time of three years.
However, the judges noted that “the time period given for the completion of the construction has already passed but seeing the way how the construction is going on, it is unlikely that it would be completed even in the coming two to three years. This road being the only one which connects the state capital to the commercial city and wherein, the communication facilities including the Railway Station and the Airport are located and through which the State is connected with the rest of the country, it is important that the construction is completed at the earliest.”
The court also held the view that for the last more than four(4) years, the people of the State has suffered immensely due to the tardy progress made by the Stakeholders. To add more to the woes of the people, the existing road has not been maintained even to make it a little more comfortable to travel. “Therefore, this Court has been constrained to take cognizance of the same,” the Order stated.
In the PIL No.2/2019 the court had made the “Union of India” as respondent, represented by the Secretary, Ministry of Road and Surface Transport, New Delhi; Secretary Ministry of Finance, New Delhi; Chief Secretary, Government of Nagaland; Commissioner & Secretary PWD (Works and Housing) Government of Nagaland; Chief Engineer PWD (National Highway), Nagaland; Managing Director, National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, New Delhi and the General Manager, NHIDCL Jorhat, Assam are the Respondents .
The respondents have been served with a notice to respond on or before November 18, 2019 on which date on which the matter has been listed to be heard.
To assist the court in the case, senior counsel Taka Masa has been appointed as the advocate for the petitioner while K. Sema, Addl. Advocate General has accepted the notice on behalf of the chief secretary, commissioner & secretary, PWD (W&H) and the chief engineer (NH).
It may be recalled that the Executive Director (P), RO-NE of National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL) on June 18, 2019, had written to the Director (T) NHIDCL, New Delhi, recommending ‘Notice for Intention to Terminate’ the contract work awarded in 2016 to M/s RAMKY -ECI (JV) engaged in the four-lane project (138 Km to 152 Km) after show cause notice was issued in the month of April 2019. The GM(Projects)BO Dimapur, NHIDCL also issued notice to M/s RAMKY-ECI (JV) on April 25, 2019. The firm had defaulted various contract clauses and failed to remedy them despite having been issued with ‘Cure Notices’. NHIDCL pointed out that M/s RAMKY-ECI(JV) had failed to remedy the defaults such as cracked/failure of newly laid DBM, Quality Assurance Plan and Internal Quality System at the work sites.
Even the other firm, M/s Gayatri Projects Ltd. has run behind schedule as per a notice issued by GM (Projects) BO-Dimapur . The notice pointed out that instead of construction of one major bridge and four minor bridges, the firm has so far constructed only one minor bridge and no visible sign of activity for construction of the remaining bridges.
Nagaland’s lone Lok Sabha MP, Tokheho Yepthomi had also recently apprised the Union Minister for MoRTH Nitin Gadkari on this issue which was widely publicized in the local dailies of the State. Tokheho had told Gadkari that the people of the State are faced with immeasurable problems due to the delay and poor workmanship of this vital road that connects the State Capital to its commercial capital.