Army clears Rilbong-Barik four-lane alignment, final nod from Delhi awaited: Meghalaya CM

Shillong, Jun 30: The proposed four-lane road from Rilbong to Barik has cleared a major hurdle after the Army accepted the alignment plan, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said on Tuesday, adding that he will meet Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari in Delhi to push for the project’s final approval.

Sangma also said the state is working out the alignment for the Umiam–Shillong four-lane project, which will have both Greenfield and Brownfield sections to ease traffic flow into the state capital.

“I will also be meeting Nitin Gadkari during my trip to Delhi. This is, of course, in line with the visit that he had made to Shillong,” the Chief Minister said. He recalled that several projects were announced during Gadkari’s Shillong visit.

“So, if you remember, there were many new projects that he had promised, but a few projects were left for further discussion, including the road from Rilbong to Barik four-lane,” Sangma said.

To move the Rilbong–Barik project forward, the state held a coordination meeting with key agencies. “I had a detailed meeting with the JOC as well as with NHIDCL, PWD, the district administration, and all the stakeholders concerned,” he said.

“The purpose of that meeting was to finalise and crystallise the actual plan. Though everybody is in agreement, these are matters of detail which we need to work out to the micro level, and hence we had a very good meeting,” he added.

Sangma said the Army’s approval was crucial and has now been secured. “We have come to a conclusion. Once the Army had seen the proposal and the plan that we had, they accepted the plan, and they have given the go-ahead to move ahead with that alignment,” he said.

“The minutes have been confirmed, and based on the minutes of the meeting, which is what the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had asked for,” he noted.

According to the CM, Gadkari had linked approval to the Army’s NOC.

“The Minister said that he is ready to give this four-lane provided there is an NOC from the Army, and therefore, we worked very hard,” Sangma said.

“I am very happy that we were able to bring it about. Of course, we have to wait for the final green signal from Delhi, but we are preparing for that. The meeting that we had, as I said, was in the right direction,” he said.

“And I am very hopeful that during this visit to Delhi, we will be able to take this particular project to its logical conclusion,” he added.

On the Umiam–Shillong four-lane, Sangma said the focus is on smoother entry into the city.

“The second project I reviewed was regarding the four-lane between Umiam and Shillong. Part will be Greenfield, part will be Brownfield. The idea is to create a smoother transition while entering Shillong, and we are hopeful that we will get a positive response from the Government of India on that project also,” he said.

He admitted that finalising the alignment has been complex.

“So, I have not been able to, of course, as I said, work on the minor details because there were a lot of details that were required. The alignment is something that — in some areas NHIDCL is agreeing, somewhere the state PWD is saying we don’t have the land here, somewhere we are facing problems because of the people,” Sangma said.

“So the mixing, matching, and the actual alignment is being worked out in detail, but I am very hopeful that we will be able to close that. The good part is that we are getting a positive response from Delhi, but as I said, we will not be able to come to a conclusion till we are able to finalise this entire thing,” he said.

“So I am very hopeful that during this visit to Delhi, we will get a much clearer picture on what we are doing,” the Chief Minister added.

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