Blockade to protest pathetic NH-37
Source: The Sangai Express
Silchar, February 01, 2012::
Local students have called for an indefinite blockade of National Highway 53 from Wednesday morning in protest against the pathetic condition of crucial highway between Badarpur in Assam's Karimganj district and Imphal in Manipur.
The action was decided after the Border Road Organisation (BRO) failed to repair the road despite repeated requests by the students' community, political parties and NGOs.
Sahidur Rahman, a student leader, said they will organise the agitation at the Katakhal point of NH53 in Hailakandi district and the blockade will continue until the authorities start the repair work, he warned.
Rahman, a student of Kalinagar Sarada Charan Dey College, said they have submitted a memorandum to S Thiyek, deputy commissioner (Hailakandi), mentioning their charter of demands and the programme of the agitation.
He added that the agitators will also gherao the office of the BRTF's 115 RCC under 765 Tusk Force of BRO at Salchapra, which is responsible for the maintenance of NH-53."We will also put the office under lock and key", he said.
Meanwhile, Lalit Mohan Suklabaidya, Lok Sabha member from Karimganj, on Tuesday had a meeting with Satpal Singh, OC of the 115 RCC of BRTF at Salchapra, and asked the BRTF authorities to start repair work of the NH-53 immediately.
He said travelling by this highway is a nightmarish experience and locals East have been suffering because of the dilapidated highway.
He said the stretch between Jiribam and Imphal in particular is narrow and runs through hilly terrain.
Most of the bridges on the road are weak and pose a risk to vehicles that ply on them, he said.
OC Satpal Singh informed the MP that BRTF are facing a crisis of funds because of which they have not been able to repair the highway.
He, however, requested the students to give him 20 days to start the work.
Suklabaidya said that he is ready to extend all cooperation to the BRTF authorities fo release of fund from the ministry of surface transport in New Delhi.
Singh said that the department of surface transport has sanctioned a sum of Rs 40 lakh for preliminary repair of a stretch of NH-53 at Panchgram, where the Barak river has eroded a large portion of the road.
Singh also said he has written a letter to DoNER ministry informing about the crack that appeared on two pillars of Gammon Bridge over the Barak at Badarpur Ghat.
He said if the bridge, under NEC, is not repaired immediately, the link between southern Assam, Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura and rest of the country will be threatened.
He sought the help of the MP to get funds released for the necessary repairs.