SILCHAR: The Gauhati High Court has asked the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) to provide an explanation for the delay in completing the Jalalpur-Rymbai Road, which was expected to be finished several years ago.
The road passes through Borsora and Betaw. Jalalpur is located in the southern district of Cachar in Assam, while Rymbai is situated in the Jaintia Hills district in Meghalaya.
According to sources, the delay in the construction of the Jalalpur-Rymbai road prompted the retired deputy inspector of schools, Bidyut Jyoti Purkayastha, to file a public interest litigation (case number – PIL/57/2022). In response to the PIL, the Gauhati High Court has summoned NHIDCL, the agency responsible for the road’s construction, to explain the delay. The court directed the matter to be listed in the following week, and the order was issued on February 8.
A copy of the high court’s order is available with EastMojo.
Sources have also revealed that a previous PIL (case number – PIL/14/2016) was filed by Purkayastha on behalf of the People’s Society several years ago. The NHIDCL had then assured the Gauhati High Court that the Jalalpur-Rymbai road would be completed by 2017-18, and the court subsequently closed the case on March 6, 2017. However, the NHIDCL failed to complete the project, prompting Purkayastha to file another PIL to seek information on the project’s delay. The high court sought clarification from NHIDCL on February 8 in response to this new PIL.
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The Jalapur-Rymbai road, once constructed, will serve as an alternative route connecting Barak Valley with Guwahati via Meghalaya. The National Highway-6 is the only road that currently connects the valley with Guwahati, but it faces challenges with vehicular movement due to frequent landslides, especially during the monsoon season. The East-West corridor is another road that connects the valley with the state capital, but it has remained incomplete for several decades. Despite numerous deadlines set and extended year after year, the project announced by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998 is yet to be completed.
The Jalalpur-Rymbai road will not pass through the landslide-prone areas of Meghalaya, making it less susceptible to landslides during the monsoon season, unlike the NH-6. Once constructed, the road will provide a comfortable travel experience for people in Barak Valley, allowing them to reach Guwahati in six to seven hours.
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