The Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to sanction an additional fund of Rs 39 crore for the completion of Miao-Vijaynagar road.
Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein on July 23 directed the RWD to expedite the construction work of the Miao-Vijaynagar road on a war footing. He met State RWD Minister Honchun Ngandam and Chief Engineer, RWD cum CEO PMGSY, D Nyodu in Itanagar on July 23.
In the meeting, the Mein said that Vijaynagar is one of the major border towns of the state which is strategically located near the Myanmar border and the state government is seriously concerned about the road connectivity to this remote town.
He further said that the government is ready to provide an additional fund of Rs 39 crore for re-alignment and construction of culvert and bridges as sought by the department. However, Mein stressed that the department should judiciously use the fund and completes the road within the stipulated time.
RWD Minister Honchun Ngandam, while requesting an additional fund of Rs 39 crore for the completion of the road project, informed that due to the uniqueness of soil conditions and a shortfall in sanctioned DPR, new alignment has to be made which necessitates seeking of the additional fund.
Earlier, the Chief Engineer RWD cum CEO PMGSY had briefed Mein about the difficulties and issues faced in the construction of Miao-Vijaynagar road, some of which are harsh topography, repetitive cloud burst and frequent rainfall, shortfall in sanctioned DPR and the uniqueness of soil conditions, forest regulations, slope stabilization of hillside, gap funding, etc.
However, he informed that several steps have been taken to remove and resolve the issues.
Mein asks mining department to explore mineral deposits
Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein also held a meeting with officials from the Departmental of Geology & Mining and Arunachal Pradesh Mineral Development & Trading Corporation Limited on July 23 and asked them to explore mines and mineral deposits in the state.
“Our own state resources need to be tapped at any cost. Our state has various mining and mineral resources,” Mein said. He asked the department to provide a prospective budget by specifying the potential areas in the state which he assured to allocate to the department.
He also informed that the state government allocated a sum of Rs 32 crore to the Department of Geology & Mining for payment of additional levy to the Union Ministry of Coal.
