One common refrain of a visitor to Shillong today is the highway jam. On a good day it takes 4-5 hours to commute between Shillong and Guwahati. This, however is no longer the rule but the exception. Most travelers are held up for seven hours on the road. It makes traveling to Shillong a very difficult proposition because in seven hours a person could reach a foreign destination in this day and age. No one likes to be held up in a road-block and waste precious time. Observant voyagers feel that the highway is not adequately policed and that there are not enough traffic cops to direct traffic. Traffic here implies coal and cement laden trucks. Drivers overrun by fatigue stop and sleep in the middle of the road. After that traffic jams begin. Reckless drivers overtaking on narrow stretches are another reason for the daily traffic snarls. All these can be tackled by effective policing. It is learnt that the Ri Bhoi district police do not have enough manpower to supervise the entire stretch of the highway from Umiam to Byrnihat which is roughly about 80 kms in length.
The easiest explanation is that coal trucks have nearly doubled after October since mining activities have started in full swing. The question is whether the highway belongs only to coal trucks. Can the government not restrict the number of trucks to facilitate better movement at a time when the highway is under expansion? Why is the government pandering to the mining lobby at the cost of the citizens? These are questions that bother all travelers to Meghalaya’s capital Shillong. It is incongruous for a state that is investing in tourism to also give priority to the mining sector. The royalty on coal is negligible but the damage to the environment extensive. Tourism on the other hand is a soft industry that thrives on conservation. Moreover, peoples’ well being and their happiness also count. At the moment every traveler on the Shillong-Guwahati road is a frustrated human being cursing the highway police, the coal trucks the government and everyone they believe is responsible for the mess. Is this what the Government of Meghalaya wants? It’s high time for Government to take a call on this serious human problem caused by an unthinking administration and the lack of political will to rein in the mining and truckers’ lobby.