The collapse of the bridge in Williamnagar on Tuesday is a commentary on the compromises made on materials and construction work largely because the contractor, engineer and minister must have their cut from every construction work. This sort of accident has been happening across the country where public and commercial buildings have collapsed because the builders have tried to cut corners. But in Meghalaya too the recently constructed public buildings are full of cracks and are badly constructed monuments of corruption. It is sad that public uproar about such horrific incidents is not loud enough. This time the accident claimed the life of one junior engineer and 16 others who are probably labourers were injured. There should be an immediate investigation into this incident and those found guilty of making compromises by cutting cost to siphon off money to their pockets should be punished. This is just one bridge that collapsed. There are many others across this State which may not stand the test of heavy traffic because their foundation are weak and more sand has gone into the slab than cement.
It is common gossip that no contractor is given work order unless he/she has agreed to give a cut out of the budgeted amount to the minister. But there are engineers as well who have to be paid and also the staff of the Public Works Department. Each time the contractor draws his/her bill different people have to be paid. How then can the contractor work without profit? Obviously the work suffers because everything will be done by the contractor to recover costs from the project/construction work. This has been the convention since Meghalaya was created. Despite the Right to Information (RTI) Act and civil society vigilance, corruption continues unabated in Meghalaya. The existence of a State Vigilance Commission seems to have had little effect in combating corruption. There must be a way to curtail the menace of corruption in the PWD because it is not just the quality of buildings and bridges that are in a decrepit shape but the roads as well.