Shillong/Silchar, Sept. 28: The transport woes of the people of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura, who use National Highway 44 through Sonapur on the Assam-Meghalaya border, could be over.
Union minister of state for defence Pallam Raju will tomorrow inaugurate a tunnel that will ensure that the states remain connected during the monsoons, when landslides are rampant in the area.
Built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in nearly nine months, the tunnel will help maintain road connectivity between Meghalaya and the Barak Valley districts, Tripura and Mizoram.
Meghalaya chief secretary Ranjan Chatterjee today said the tunnel would help keep the national highway free from landslides, ensuring the smooth flow of traffic.
In June 2001, the highway remained blocked for a month when a series of landslides rolled down the Sonapur stretch of the national highway.
A passenger bus of a private company skidded in the slush on the highway near the Cachar-Meghalaya border and fell into the river Luva, killing seven persons.
In December 2007, the Union ministry of shipping, road transport and highways approved the project to construct the tunnel.
The Project Setuk team of the BRO took up the construction in January this year.
Constructed at a cost of Rs 117 crore, the tunnel is 120 metres long and eight metres wide, comprising two lanes.
Sanjoy Kumar, an executive engineer with the BRO, said, “The tunnel will enable the mud and slush of the landslides to be first deposited on the roof of the tunnel and then be pushed into the river, without disrupting traffic on the road.”
Union heavy industries minister Sontosh Mohan Dev and Meghalaya chief minister Donkupar Roy will be present at the inauguration tomorrow. source: telegraph india
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