Meghalaya had hardly recovered from the unprecedented floods which had caused massive devastation and loss of human lives when a massive landslide along National Highway 40 claimed one more life on October 5. The landslide was a disaster waiting to happen. Earth cutting at a precariously dizzy angle was, even to the untrained eye, a dangerous proposition. Geologists remark that earth cutting along hilly terrains should follow certain specifications but the hillsides along the Shillong-Guwahati highway have been cut at a sharp 90 degree angle at several spaces. It is inevitable that the loose soil would come hurtling down straight on to the road. At this time what is needed is an enquiry into the whole episode.
Experts claim that cutting the slopes at a 45 degree angle makes better sense but that would have required more land than is presently available. It would also have meant more money spent on land acquisition. But that is an imperative and cutting cost is not even an option. The question before us is who took the final call to reduce the size of the land acquired. Responsibility has to be fixed since a human life was lost and several vehicles were damaged. This incident cannot be brushed aside as yet another natural calamity over which humans had no control and what in insurance parlance is called, “An act of God.” Surely human errors cannot be attributed to the divine. Road making on hilly terrains is a technique that the engineers and contractors who have no first-hand experience would find extremely challenging. In India quality control is simply a jargon that is bandied about but given short shrift by those who construct roads and buildings and manufacture goods. As it is, roads in Meghalaya have a very short shelf life and no one questions why roads are repaired annually. We are used to putting up with everything sub-standard and of allowing corruption to thrive. A national highway of import such as the one under discussion should have been constructed with greater precision. The rains in Meghalaya and North East are a permanent fixture. Road construction has to take this into consideration. This year the rains have been heavier than usual but that is not unexpected. Engineering and designs should have taken care of these eventualities. Evidently this has not happened. Hence the disaster! There is urgent need for an ombudsman to oversee road making in Meghalaya and to fix accountability for shoddily made roads and bridges.