Blockade hits NH44 traffic

Silchar, Oct. 27 : Traffic came to a halt on the Karimganj-Cachar stretch of National Highway 44 and vehicles were stranded since 8 this morning following a 36-hour road blockade imposed by protesters seeking repair of the road.

Police said vehicles had stopped plying on the highway and a large number were stranded at Katigorah, on the Meghalaya-Cachar border.

An official said the police were present in the area but wanted to avoid any confrontation with the sponsors of the blockade. “We’ll prevail over them amicably to withdraw the blockade,” he added.

The protesters, under the banner of United NH44 Development Committee, had announced the blockade on Saturday exasperated by the Centre’s indifference towards providing funds for maintenance of the highway.

The NH44 is the only highway that links south Assam, Mizoram and Tripura through Meghalaya and lower Assam. The blockade, the first of its kind on this road, has raised fears of a shutdown of the crucial highway that serves the three states.

The stretch of the highway between Churaibari on the Assam-Tripura boundary and Malidahar on the Assam-Meghalaya boundary in Cachar district is littered with craters and potholes and accidents are common.

Repairs on the highway started to suffer since September last year when the 42 Border Road Task Force, under the Union transport and national highways ministry, stopped supervising the road following a funds crunch.

In July, the Centre brought the 111km stretch of the highway that runs through Karimganj and Cachar districts of Assam under the ambit of the PWD but the cash-strapped Dispur sent the maintenance ball back to the Centre’s court.

Senior officials of the state PWD (national highway division) said an estimate of Rs 41 crore had been sent to the Centre for the makeover of the highway.

When Sontosh Mohan Dev, the Congress leader from Assam and a former MP from Cachar, was the Union minister for heavy industries, he had lobbied for the makeover and arranged for Rs 46 crore.

However, with no indication of the amount being granted, Goutam Roy, the state minister for border areas development and excise, met Kamal Nath, Union minister for national highways, in Delhi on Thursday, seeking speedy sanction of the funds. Nath assured Roy that funds would not be a constraint.

Cachar deputy commissioner Goutam Ganguli convened a meeting of officials and public representatives here recently to put pressure on the PWD to expedite repairs on the highway.

Pranab Sinha, the executive engineer of PWD (national highway), said an initial fund of Rs 15.63 crore had been sanctioned and repairs would soon begin.