The Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha drew the attention of the Union Road Transport Minister by raising the issue at a review meeting on National Highway Projects in the North Eastern region held at a hotel in Guwahati .
The Chief Minister requested to approve the road as National Highway from Champaknagar to Udaipur via Khumulung and Jampuizla (8 National Highway No. 40 km long), 148 km long road from Kamalpur to Ambasa (No. 8) via Gandatuisa-Amarpur (No. 208) to Shantirbazar, 24 km road from Amarpur (No. 208) to Udaipur (No. 8), Shantirbazar to Bilonia 17.25 Km.
These roads will provide alternative connectivity to various districts, sub-divisions, blocks, markets, tourist spots and populated areas of the state.
The chief minister made this request keeping in mind the matter of importance. The Chief Minister also assured of all cooperation related to land acquisition, removal of forest areas and other important infrastructure for the implementation of all these projects from the state government.
He laid emphasis on maintaining quality in the work of the projects, saying Tripura is a hilly state and the soil here is quite soft. Therefore drains and cross drainage are needed along the road to remove rain water. So special care should be taken while preparing DPR considering these issues in each project.
Along with this, the Chief Minister demanded to start the work of four-lane Churaibari-Agartala National Highway No. 8 as soon as possible. Churaibari-Agartala National Highway 8, known as the lifeline of Tripura, has already been announced to be upgraded to a four-lane national highway. Four lane work has also started on the section of this National Highway from Champaknagar to Khairpur.
In the meeting, the Chief Minister emphasized on speedy initiation of four-lane work on the entire stretch of this national highway. Union Road Transport and National Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari presided over the review meeting. Also present were Union Minister of State for Road Transport and National Highways General VK Singh (retd), Managing Director of NHIDCL, representatives of various states of North Eastern region.
In the review meeting, the Chief Minister thanked the Union Minister of Road Transport and National Highways for approving various projects related to National Highways for the development of communication systems in various states of North Eastern region including Tripura.
Manik Saha said that the length of national highways in the state has increased from 509 km to 914 km in the last nine years. National Highway Development
A total of Rs 9034 crore has been sanctioned for 31 related projects. Among them, 16 projects have been completed through NHIDCL and State’s Public Works Department. In this, 383 km of road work has been done at a cost of 3977 crores. At present, construction of 225 km road is going on in 15 projects at a cost of Rs 5057 crore. Among them eight projects are scheduled to be completed by 31 December 2023. All these eight projects are being implemented through NHIDCL.
Manik Saha said that the matter of approving the project of construction of another 265 km road for the development of Tripura’s road communication system is under process. For which the expenditure has been estimated at 4607 crores.
