Road under court scanner

 It is indeed time that the court took cognisance of pressing issues confronting public and this is what the two judges of the Kohima Bench of the Gauhati High Court have done in filing the suo moto PIL against ‘tardy progress’ and continued delay in the construction of the four-lane National Highway between Dimapur to Kohima. In the PIL No.2/2019 the court has made the “Union of India” has been made the main respondent, represented by the Secretary, Ministry of Road and Surface Transport, New Delhi while other respondents include- Secretary Ministry of Finance, New Delhi; Chief Secretary, Government of Nagaland; Commissioner & Secretary PWD (Works and Housing) Government of Nagaland; Chief Engineer PWD (National Highway), Nagaland; Managing Director, National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, New Delhi and the General Manager, NHIDCL Jorhat, Assam. The respondents have asked to respond on or before November 18, 2019 on which date the matter has been listed to be heard. In the order, the notice drew attention to a news report on October 9,2019 wherein it stated that the project commenced in 2015 with a time frame of three years(2018) for completion. However, the judges noted that “the time period given for the completion of the construction has already passed but seeing the way how the construction is going on, it is unlikely that it would be completed even in the coming two to three years.” Several factors have contributed to the delay in starting the construction of the 4-lane highway and works started only after a delay of one year. It may be noted that as per the National Highway Act 1988, an area of 75 feet from the centre of the road to either side, is supposed to be the road reservation area. However, due to rampant encroachment, the earlier proposal in 2000 met an untimely end. After the four-lane was sanction and work was to begin, the encroached areas had to be obtained after payment of land compensation. Perhaps, public have lately realised their past folly of wanting only land compensation instead seeing the huge benefits of good roads. Several organisations have extended their cooperation for construction of the four lane and warned against any impediments on contractors. Delays in completion of construction projects in Nagaland has become more of a rule than the exception. Over and above this aspect, most delayed government civil contract works are invariably subjected to the “real juice” called cost escalation which can push up project costs to several times the original estimate within a few years. Schedule of Rate(SoR) as approved by the government on various items for any particular period, are also more than double or even triple the cost in the local market. Project costs could even escalate up to ten times or more of their original estimates. One can only imagine how a contractor reaps windfall benefits out of delayed escalation projects Construction of the four-lane highway has also been dogged by land acquisition cases. Perhaps, the intervention of the high court on the four-lane road construction will make the centre and state governments act with a sense of urgency to ensure early completion of the delayed project. It may also be worthwhile noting that construction of four-lane between Guwahati to Shillong,was taken up at break-neck speed where the state government made sure that the firms worked overtime even at night to complete the project. This is a lesson that Nagaland ought to learn and emulate.