Assam Pushes Barak Valley Road Repairs Before Puja Festivals

Guwahati: Assam is fast-tracking road and infrastructure work in the Barak Valley. Development Minister Krishnendu Paul ordered officials to finish repairs on critical routes before the start of Durga Puja and Kali Puja. He wants roads in top shape for the holiday rush. The directive followed a high-level meeting at the Assam Secretariat on Wednesday.

Minister of State Kaushik Rai joined the review session. Officials scrutinized progress on major jobs including the Shillong-Barni Expressway and the Bharatmala project. They looked at the Assam Mala road network, a city flyover in Shillong, and the road linking Birbal Bazar to the Medical College. Construction of the bridge over the Barak river at Madarpur also earned a spot on the agenda.

Paul spoke after the meeting finished. "The condition of roads in all three districts was reviewed in detail along with officials of the Public Works Department, district administrations and the National Highways authorities," he said. The team identified bottlenecks and hammered out a roadmap to keep work moving. The government will also alert Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma about necessary repairs on the road from Shillong to Churaibari.

A long list of officials attended the proceedings. This included MLAs Vijay Malakar, Rajdeep Gaula, Amiya Kanti Das, Aminul Haque Laskar, Zuber Enam, and Aminul Rashid Chowdhury. District Commissioners Rahul Gupta, Pradeep Kumar Dwivedi, and Joy Bikash sat in with Additional Secretary Aditya Vikram Yadav and Public Works Commissioner Sanjib Shyam. NHIDCL Executive Director Nirman Kishan Jambhulkar joined representatives from the Power and Forest departments to iron out the project schedules.