Gangtok, June 8 (UNI) Expressing concern over the delayed forest clearances, the Border Road Organisation (BRO) officials in Sikkim here today said the Rs 780 crore Nathu La road double laning project may get delayed.

The double laning work of the 64 km stretch of Gangtok-Nathu La Jawaharlal Nehru road, which had started since May last at Changu lake-Sherathang stretch, was scheduled to complete by March 2009 in four phases.

However, the works have come to a complete halt from May 30 as the mandatory forest clearance had not arrived from the Shillong centre of Ministry of Environment and Forests.

''We will not be able to meet the March 2009 deadline if the forest department does not provide us the clearances,'' a senior BRO official at Gangtok said requesting anonymity.

He further added that the cost of the project would escalate if the is any further delay.

The state forest officials have also seized all the equipment and machineries of the GERF.

The clearance request for the particular road stretch had been forwarded by the state forest department to the Shillong centre and the clearance is still awaited by both the department and BRO.

The BRO have admitted that as the project was divided into four phases, it was difficult to send the clearance at a time.

They further said the solution to the issue was that the state government gives conditional clearance to all the road widening works so that one could work simultaneously.

UNI