DIBRUGARH: The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) on Monday staged a human chain protest at Lepetkata in Dibrugarh over the slow pace of the ongoing four-lane project work on the National Highway between Moran town and Dibrugarh.

The AASU activists holding play cards and banners staged the protest for an hour against the slow pace of work.

On February 27, 2016 union minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation of the four-lane project.

However, as of date, the Rs 330.3 crore-projects have made physical progress of just 63.47% in all these years.

M/s Manaranjan Brahma (MB) which is executing the project had earlier missed NHIDCL’s deadline of February 12, 2021, for completing the project. 

Dibrugarh district AASU general secretary, Aboni Kumar Gogoi said, “The government should initiate a high-level inquiry into the slow pace of work. Dibrugarh is the educational hub and due to the bad roads the students, as well as the commuters, are facing a lot of problems.”

Gogoi said, “Commuters are facing problems due to the slow progress of the four-lane project as the condition of the existing road has gone from bad to worse. The entire stretch of the highway is covered with huge potholes and some of them are knee-deep. Several vehicles have met with accidents on the highway due to a lack of maintenance. We urge the chief minister to look into the issue.”

Meanwhile, the AASU members submitted a memorandum to Dibrugarh Deputy Commissioner Biswajit Pegu.

Avik Chakraborty is Northeast Now Correspondent in Dibrugarh. He can be reached at: [email protected]