By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Meghalaya is known for its beauty, cascading waterfall, and a soothing climate but the bad road condition spoiled it all.
The cleanest village in Asia and a popular tourist spot, Mawlynnong Village has for the past few years managed to draw many attention from far and wide but tourists have complained that the bad road condition leading to this village spoiled their mood.
But nevertheless, tourists have also stated that the road may be bad but the end result was good, pleasing and mesmerizing. “We were starting to feel annoyed with the bad condition of the road but as soon as we reached the place, our mood changed and it was all back to normal until the time when we had to leave the place,” a tourist from Assam said.
He also asserted that if the State really wanted to develop tourism, it would have to start working and stop talking. “This State is blessed with its natural beauty and if it really wants revenue to be generated from tourism, it seriously needs to fill in all the loopholes,” he added.
Admitting that the road leading to Mawlynnong was in a bad state, a local resident of Mawlynnong B Kharluni said “We have informed the local MLA (Prestone Tynsong) about the bad road conditions and repairs have also started but stopped because of the rain.”
“We don’t want to any the tourist the chance to complain about the pathetic condition of road while coming here, we want them to enjoy all the way till they reach the destination, leaving no rooms for complaint,” Kharluni said adding that this will only leave a black mark on the tourism management.
This village, known for its hospitality will also come up with a new idea of damming one of their rivers to construct a pool for the tourist but cited funds as the main hurdle. “We have approached the higher ups on this issue and we are hopeful to start off with the project very soon,” he added. Stating that the revenue generated from this village is spend on the local cleaners, development of the village and the like, Kharluni said that besides the revenue, this has also helped generate employment for the local youth.
Mawlynnong is not the only tourist spot which is faced by this problem, people often have a difficult traveling to other destinations like Sohra and the likes. It is high time for the government to have a look at these small issues if it is serious of developing tourism in the State.