No sign of completion of NH-37 road construction
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, February 26 2023: Even though construction of the bridge over Irang river along Imphal-Jiribam road is targeted for completion by March this year, there has been no sign of immediate completion of the two-lane widening cum black-topping of the NH-39 spanning 220km from Imphal to Jiribam.

In view of its importance in connectivity and lifeline of the people of the state, different companies are being engaged by National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) to widen and black top the NH-39.However, there is no sign of immediate completion of the road construction works when inspected.

A team of Imphal based media houses inspected the ongoing construction of NH-37 up to Irang bridge which is located along the highway and about 98 km from Imphal on Sunday.

The inspection began from Oriental College-New Keithelmanbi stretch of the highway.

The road from Khumbong to Moidangpok, Sagoltongba was found to be in worst possible condition with no signs of using manpower and machineries for the works to the satisfaction of the local people.

Hill section of the 220km long Imphal-Jiribam road starts from Keithelmanbi but the condition in Keithelmanbi area is worse than in the plain section of the highway.

The area is filled with dust due to fresh earth cutting for widening of the road and it would be dangerous for movement of vehicles when there is even slight rainfall.

The road in Kot-lien area too remains in awful condition as huge boulders from fresh earth cutting are still lying on the road in haphazard manner.

The media team found fresh black-topping just after passing Noney bridge up to 4km towards Jiribam and preparations for black-topping near Awangkhul but the rest of the highway remain in deplorable condition.

Except for some locations, there were no signs of using manpower or machineries for the road construction work up to Irang bridge located around 98km from Imphal.

Accordingly, widening and black-topping of the entire 220km long Imphal-Jiribam road would not be completed in near future.

Though different companies under NHIDCL are currently taking up different packages of the road construction work, it is questionable as to how far the companies are putting efforts to complete the assigned task in time.

Flash flood caused irreparable damage to the bailey bridge constructed over the Irang river along NH-37 on May 12, 2022 but a new bailey bridge was installed soon at the same place.

However, construction of the new RCC Irang bridge started from January 4, 2021 by MS Peratak Construction company under EPC mode and was to be completed by October 16, 2022.Unable to complete within the targeted deadline, the project deadline was re-extended till February 5, 2023.When inspected, the media team found launch of girder of Irang bridge from both the sides while an official of the company informed that construction of the bridge would be completed before the onset of rainy season, most probably within the month of March this year.

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