By Dalariti Nongpiur
This piece contains musings of an otherwise apathetic dreamer, whose idea of registering a complaint is speaking out against incorrect English grammar OR this country’s pathetic understanding of what television content (be it the news or entertainment) is. As a person who has travelled across this country I’ve learned to live with a lot of its flaws and have accepted them as part and parcel of the beauty that is India- a country so ridiculously diverse, yet functionally democratic (flawed, yes, but functioning). Life for me, so far, has been a series of observations only. But now I’ve had a change of heart. It’s as though all those things I’ve seen and absorbed over the years have decided to come shooting out of me, drenched in opinions and questions that want answers and solutions. But since there are so many of them, I’ve decided to choose a simple matter to bring to everyone’s attention, especially a particular Member of Legislative Assembly – the one chosen to represent the Laban – Lumparing area amongst others.
Shillong is categorised as a city. It was once called the least polluted city in the country although I doubt it still stands the same today. There is a particular road within this city that is in such a state of dilapidation that is equivalent to an off-road track. I am speaking of the road between the Rhino cross section through Kench’s Trace, the Reserved Forest and eventually ending in Lumparing. If one is to travel on this road blindfolded, one could easily mistake it for a road leading to a remote village somewhere in the state. Being politically challenged, since my interest in politics can be literally compared to a cat’s interest in a piece of raw cabbage, I really do not know if our MLA is the one who should be ensuring that this road, qualitatively, qualifies as the tarmac road that it so desperately wants to be. All I ask is that he speaks to the department concerned, be it the PWD or Urban Affairs or PHE or whoever it is that is responsible for turning that stretch of road into the mess that it is today. Speak to the people who have been charged with the responsibility of ensuring that Shillong lives up to its urban status. All he has to do is speak. I am not asking him to start digging and levelling and driving the road roller himself. He has been elected to speak for us, so speak. The action is expected from the department spoken to.
A word of advice to whatever department undertakes this project (if it is undertaken at all); Please make sure that the contractor you engage for the project does the work the way it is meant to be done. Ensure that he/she follows the specifications and guidelines laid down by the government with regard to the thickness and consolidation of the different layers of the road so that the Godforsaken thing lasts a few years before any need for repair. Because if I remember correctly a part of that road had undergone what looked like full-fledged repair work less than a year ago, but one cannot see any sign of it today. That is probably because it has been replaced by so many potholes. I’m sure you know the answer to this already, but ask yourselves, “Why is this so?”
The whisper is that the contract is given to the one who can pay more under the table. I do not even want to go there. Whether there is money involved under the table or over it is not the question here, the question is about the work being done properly. As a civilian, I don’t care who gets the contract to build the road, but I do care about the road – how it feels to drive on it and how safe it is. Because right now, it feels as though the government should be compensating us for whatever damage our vehicles are at the receiving end of just for being driven on the said road.
And for those of you who want to experience what it feels like to be driving on a neglected village road, please feel free to take this stretch I’ve written so vociferously about.