Nagaon, May 13: Vehicles stood bumper to bumper as more than 2,000 school students jointly led by the All Tiwa Students’ Union and the Nagaon unit of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) blocked National Highway 37 at Raha in protest against the delay in construction of the East West Corridor.
The stretch of the corridor from Guwahati to Nagaon is 125km. Raha is 30km from Nagaon district headquarters.
The students today blocked the highway for more than two hours from 11am causing heavy traffic congestion on the highway.
The blockade was lifted after a high-level team of the Nagaon administration led by additional deputy commissioner P. Rajkhowa reached the spot and assured timely steps to fulfil their demands.
The students’ organisations later petitioned Nagaon deputy commissioner Manish Thakur through Rajkhowa.
Their demands include an underpass of the East West Corridor at Raha town, quality management in construction and its early execution.
Five construction firms are working on the 125km stretch of which 25km will pass through Morigaon. Madhucon Projects Ltd, a New Delhi-based firm, is entrusted with construction of the corridor for the Nagaon stretch.
“In the 10km area covering Raha town in Nagaon district there is not a single underpass to cross the roads. The people, particularly school students, might have to suffer a lot if they have to cross the busy six-lane highway. Speeding vehicles mowing down people is common nowadays. Non-inclusion of an underpass in the project might claim innocent lives,” Bidhan Pator, a Tiwa student leader, said.
On April 5, environment minister Jayram Ramesh announced that Maytas Infra Pvt Ltd and Madhucon Projects Ltd — two companies engaged in construction — would be showcaused within a week for the delay.
Ramesh said: “I had travelled through this route four years back. The condition of this part remains the same.”
“Year after year common people have to be the victims of incomplete projects. Muddy roads, unfinished bridges have taught us a lot. Our agitation would continue till these issues are resolved,” AASU’s Raha unit leader Bhaskar Das said.
“We are going to discuss these issues with the local unit of the National Highways Authority to find out a solution,” Rajkhowa said.
