By Our Reporter
Shillong: The various village dorbars in and around Umsning area have welcome the State Government’s decision to construct the four laning along the existing road in Umsning.
“We feel that this is a right and fair decision taken by the Government,” Umsning Patarim Rangbah Shnong SA Kylla said in a statement on Friday.
He however expressed surprise over the outburst of the NGOs (KSU, FKJGP, HNYF, RBYF and CORP) who opposed the decision.
“We fail to understand the logic of the NGOs that the expense to be incurred for the four laning would be less if is constructed through the Bypass,” he said, while adding that the NGOs had calculated that the expense to be incurred for the construction of the four lane through the Bypass is Rs 13 crore while it would be around Rs 43 crore if it is constructed through the existing road.
“Even if this calculation done by the NGOs has some credibility, then the total amount involved in the project would be borne by the Union Government and not by the NGOs.
I do not think the NGOs should have any problem over the amount involved in the project since they are not paying the amount from their own pockets,” Kylla added.
Meanwhile, he said that the existing road at Umsning is an economic lifeline not only for Umsning but for 30-40 villages connected to the existing road by the Umsning-Mawrong junction and Umsning-Mawhati junction.
It may be noted that several prominent NGOs of Ri-Bhoi district had strongly opposed the State Government’s decision to construct the four laning from the existing road at Umsning.