Umsning Four Laning
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The decision of the state government to go ahead with the construction of the four lane from the existing road at Umsning has called for both applause and criticism from the local residents of Umsning.
The supporters of the government’s decision which include the local residents, land owners from villages like Umsning Pattarim, Umsning Lum Roman and Umtrew besides others have urged the government to go ahead with the construction as soon as possible.They have also expressed their disagreement over the agitations of social organisations regarding the construction of the four-lane .
One, Mina Kharphuli who is a land owner at Umtrew has expressed her readiness to part with her land if the government feels the need to.
The other group of people who support the NGOs in their protest against the decision of the government has pointed out that the four-lane which is a project of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) should pass from the Umsning Bye-Pass.
As per the documents, the Detailed Project Report of NHAI which was issued in 2003, the proposed construction of the four-lane was supposed to be from the Umsning bye-pass.
The distance of the road from the Umsning bye-pass is about 5.21kms that is from Lad Mawrong at Jingkieng Umtrew whereas the distance of existing road is only about 4.17kms.It may be mentioned that the construction of the four-lane of the National Highway-40 extends from Jorabad till Umiam at a distance of around 61.8kms with an estimate of Rs 536 crore.
Despite continuous agitations, the state government has decided to go ahead with the construction of the four-lane from the existing road.
Further, as per the documents gathered from the opposition party in April 2011, the Deputy Commissioner of Ri-Bhoi M Kharmujai has written to the under secretary of the Revenue and Disaster Management department citing the difficulty in re-aligning the areas at the existing road.
Kharmujai has clearly stated that the expenses will be more if the alignment of the road is to be shifted from the bye-pass road to the existing road via Umsning.
However, , in a letter sent by the official of NHAI to the director general (RT&H) & special secretary of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has stated that “Any changes in the alignments after the work has proceeded will greatly hamper the whole work”.