By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: With the opening of the state of the art Shillong Bypass that ensures a never before smooth driving experience to motorists, a drive on the National Highway (NH) from Lad Umroi to Jorabat actually gives an exact opposite experience and more so following the desertion by the executing agency which is constructing this lifeline of Shillong and other Northeastern states.
As public were seen jubilant taking a charming ride on the Shillong Bypass, which was opened to traffic on a trial basis on Friday afternoon free from potholes and skeletal appearances – a defining sight of all state roads, their counterpart on the national highway in the Lad Umroi to Jorabat route were a dejected lot.
The condition of the NH 40 has become a major bone of contention since the dugout earth, cutout roadside hills with strewn earth fills all over and the water bound macadam is all that is seen in this highway now.
People who throng this highway on a daily basis said that the Dr Mukul Sangma led MUA – II government should address the present situation in the highway urgently since it has some of the notorious track records of patients dying on the way, passengers missing their trains and flights, mothers delivering in vehicles and more.
“These incidents happen when traffic management goes out of control as the State traffic department has no solution in sight. If these incidents are to repeat again then it would be because of the dereliction of duty by the constructing agency that is executing the project,” said a Shillong resident, who deals in surgical equipment and travels extensively on business purpose.
Another concern is that this is the only roadway that ferries essential items not only in Meghalaya but into other Northeastern states too whereas travelers from these states are increasingly dependent on this road network to reach Guwahati.
The present condition of the highway can surely give a negative impact to the tourists who are coming here for the first time as the bumpy ride in the Lad Umroi to Jorabat stretch may even prevent them to come here for the second time.
The free and smooth ride that one enjoys till Jorabat gets dampened when one enters the Meghalaya side till Lad Umroi as vehicles often comes to a grinding halt in the village type stony path that defines this National highway now.