John Wilbert & Sarthak Kanjilall
Port Blair, July 20: When in 2018 December the road construction work order from Jirkatang to Ferrargunj was awarded, commuters hoped that the days of their miseries will end soon. But sadly, the condition of the road of the aforesaid stretch has only deteriorated since then.
The 15-kilometer stretch which was planned to be completed by end of March 2020, after earlier delays for various reasons, is now going to take more time as the contractor responsible to complete the task on time has failed to live up to people’s expectations.
The condition of the Jirkatang to Ferrargunj stretch is so pathetic that it is nowadays taking nearly 50 minutes for the commuters to cover the stretch, “Earlier 30 minutes was more than enough to cover the aforesaid stretch,” said a heavy vehicle driver.
“I would never drive my vehicle on such pathetic roads but because I have a cargo business, presently I am forced to do so,” said Mr. Sentil Kumar, a cargo van owner of Middle Andaman.
As per reports, after earlier delays, the outsourced contractor of NHIDCL was supposed to complete the road construction work of the aforesaid stretch by March 2020, but they were unable to do so by stating several reasons like non-availability of quarry materials during that time.
As the reason of non availability of quarry materials at that point of time was genuine, the NHIDCL extended the timing till the end of August 2020, in spite of that the contractor failed to show proper progress of the work.
As per sources, this time the contractor has held the rain responsible for the delay.
When Andaman Sheekha contacted the General Manager, Project, NHIDCL, Mr. Dilbhag Singh Dhanda to know the reason behind the delay in constructing the road, he said that rain has caused the delay in the project.
“We have now decided to give time till October 2020 to the contractor for completing the work and if again the contractor fails to complete target, a fine will be imposed on the agency,” Mr. Dhanda added.
As per sources earlier also a fine was imposed on the contractors but sadly fines do not bring relief for ATR commuters. Most of the serious patients from North and Middle Andaman are brought to Port Blair via ATR and on the said stretch of road, patients and old people suffer heavily.
As per reports there are thousands and thousands of small and mega potholes on the road stretch and people are now requesting the NHIDCL to direct the contractor to atleast make the road stretch smooth by filling the potholes, temporarily.
