Silchar, July 9: Project Setuk, a unit of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), is set to add another feather to its cap by completing a double-lane national highway linking Karimganj town with Suterkandi village on the Indo-Bangla border in record time.
The highway is expected to boost border trade between the two countries.
The BRO unit had recently bagged the ISO 9001-2000 certificate for meeting the specified quality standard, while executing infrastructure schemes in the Northeast.
The new 14-km National Highway 151 will have a state-of-the-art double-lane metallic track.
Briefing newspersons on the progress of the highway, commander of the 42nd Border Roads Task Force S.K. Pandey said the road would boost border trade between India and Bangladesh.
Pandey said the renovation of the PWD road, which was closed in November 2002, began during the winter last year.
He said the BRO had used modern gadgets to construct the border road, which traverses through a flood-prone low-lying area.
To prevent possible damage by floods and to keep it open to traffic round the year, the BRO unit completed piling on various stretches of the road first. Long lines of 14-metre girders were also placed on the road to make it durable.
BRTF official Sunil Verma said the road was sturdy enough to withstand pressure from 3,000 trucks carrying 70 tonnes of material.
Work on the highway is under way on a war footing with modern construction gadgets pressed into service.
Sources said the highway would improve export of coal, limestone and horticulture products like ginger and oranges to Bangladesh.
By exporting the low-ash and high-calorie Khasi coal to Bangladesh, miners and traders of Meghalaya and south Assam districts reap a profit of Rs 40 crore annually.
The 42nd BRTF has recently been successful in putting a stop to recurrent landslides brought down the slopes of the hills flanking National Highway 44, linking south Assam with Meghalaya.
Pandey said the BRTF unit was also constructing a 3.84-km bypass to link the two sides of National Highway 44 near Karimganj town to allow smooth passage of vehicles bound for Tripura. The bypass, to be completed by March, will cost Rs 17 crore.