Shillong, Dec 17: The Meghalaya High Court on Friday directed the state government to set up a committee for the quick handing over of the acquired land and quick resolution of the local issues pertaining to the construction of the Shillong-Dawki road.

Hearing a PIL, the Court said, “…the State government is directed to ensure that a committee is set up with the Chief Engineer of PWD (Roads) and a Secretary-level official for the smooth and quick handing over of the acquired land and the quick resolution of the local issues that may arise in the other stretches for the work to be taken up in right earnest and completed without any undue delay.”

It has also directed the Secretary in the PWD Department of the State to file an affidavit indicating the measures taken and the progress made in such regard.

“If it is found that there is no effective measure taken by the State, a separate committee may be set up by the Court,” the Court said.

The National Highways Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) has informed the Court that the Shillong-Dawki road, which has been divided into five packages, has already run into rough weather as only two of the packages are ongoing and, because of local issues particularly relating to handing over of the acquired land, two contractors in respect of the other three packages have abandoned their contracts.

As far as the other packages of the Shillong-Dawki road are concerned, the NHIDCL seeks the appointment of a monitoring committee to ensure that the land already acquired for the purpose is handed over immediately and the alignment problems are avoided at the intervention of local residents in certain areas.