Over the last three years, the Narendra Modi government has been giving maximum attention to improve road conditions in north eastern India.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) announced plans to pump in ₹1.45-lakh crore to build roads, and to shift from the controversial BOT model to turnkey contracts on encumbrance-free land to pace up construction.

However, except for Arunachal Pradesh (which is witnessing two-lane highway construction), the pace of four-lane highway building is suffering significant delays on almost all major arteries that connect vast stretches of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura.

According to government sources, a bunch of contractors, who have the necessary skills to build four-lane highways – replacing the current single or intermediate lane road links – are failing to achieve milestones due to stressed finances accrued from the past.

Take for example the case of the all-important NH-37 and NH-52 criss-crossing Assam through either banks of Brahmaputra. Both the highways have been taken up for four-laning. According to the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL), as on September 30, four-laning of all three sections from Jamuguri to Holongi on NH-52 on the north bank is running way behind schedule.

Except for one section (between Bishwanath Chariali and Gohpur) that achieved 43 per cent physical progress, the rest barely saw any movement.

Engineering and Construction Company (ECI), which was awarded the contract for the Gohpur-Holongi section in December 2015, has completed just 7 per cent of work – the project was scheduled to be completed by this month.

Cancellation of contracts The 440-km NH-37 connecting Guwahati with the tea capital of Dibrugarh is the lifeline of trade and commerce in Assam. With the opening of Dhola-Sadia bridge and Bogibeel bridge due for opening in January, widening of this road is of utmost importance.

Out of the total, 122 km has already been developed under the East-West Corridor project, which was conceived by the Vajpayee government and taken up by NHAI in 2012. The 130-km stretch from Nagaon to Numaligarh passes through Kaziranga National park and cannot be widened.

This leaves a little less than 200 km to be widened, and construction is on since 2014 but without much progress. NHIDCL recently cancelled the old BOT contracts (two) to Corsan Corvium for the 82-km-long Jorhat to Demow section.

HCC achieved 8 per cent progress on the 40-km Jorhar-Numaligarh section and has been asked to pay damages. Gannon Dunkerley achieved 5 per cent progress on the 27-km Demow-Moran section – the projects were scheduled for completion between November 2017 and May 2018.

Atlanta has also missed the first milestone for Moran-Bogibeel stretch. The only package that is progressing as per schedule is the construction of the Dibrugarh bypass.

“We may cancel some more contracts to pace up work on NH-37 widening,” an NHIDCL source told BusinessLine .

Financially stressed Meanwhile, sources in the Ministry point out that most of the contractors who failed to show necessary progress, are financially stressed due to their high exposure to BOT projects. Sources in lending agencies and in the construction equipment sector have also confirmed this view.

“Nationally, major contractors are suffering from stressed financial conditions acquired from the past. Their recovery is slow. Meanwhile, many new contractors are coming up,” said a senior official in a top equipment company.

Stressed finances are, however, not the only reason. While the policy-makers in Assam are geared up to provide necessary land to speed up highway construction, executing agencies point out that the urgency is yet to make much impact on the officialdom, especially the lower-level officials.

“Often we are handed over land with encroachments,” said a source.

Development of highways in Assam is important for connectivity to other N-E States. Key links such as Silchar-Agartala, Kohima-Dimapur or Imphal-Jiribam, which are a lifeline to Tripura, Nagaland and Manipur, are in a bad shape.

Tripura, being dependent on only one highway, has been hit the most. Unfortunately, part of the blame should go to the State governments of Assam and Tripura as these States were in charge of the worst-managed sections.

The entire stretch will now be taken up for four-laning under the Bharatmala project. DPR has been initiated last week, following Cabinet approval. Sources in the government feel entrusting one agency for building and maintaining all highways in N-E would help.

Interestingly, while road connectivity of Tripura with the rest of India is a cause for concern, highway development from Agartala Sabroom to connect Bangladesh is progressing fast. Similarly, Manipur suffers from poor road connectivity, but the State’s connectivity with Myanmar is improving.

Correction

This copy has been edited to correct the amount of investment planned by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to build roads, and to shift from the BOT model to turnkey contracts on encumbrance-free land.

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