SHILLONG: With the alleged selective beautification of footpaths still continuing, complaints have emerged from pedestrians that the repair and tiling of the footpaths was not being extended to those areas which required them the most.
There is criticism that while several footpaths under the constituency of Urban Affairs Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh were repaired and tiled, other areas were neglected.
The tiling of footpaths have been completed in areas like IGP, MG Road, Police Bazar and Jowai Highway (alongside St. Edmund’s College) whereas no such work being carried out in other parts of the city.
Residents of other parts of the city wondered as to how long it would take to get tiled footpaths in other urban constituencies. This will certainly put the minister in a spot of bother as there is simmering public resentment over nonexistent civic amenities in the city.
When contacted, the urban affairs minister denied any partial treatment and said that works started from areas which were being frequently used by the public.
“We had to prioritize those areas which are used frequently by the pedestrians as we are having financial constrains,” she said.
The footpaths from Rilbong Point to Civil Junction are in a dilapidated condition. Pedestrians who use this busy thoroughfare have been demanding cemented topping so that they can tread on them safely. The current state of these footpaths only indicates the apathy of the State government.
Those who have to deal with the broken footpaths on a daily basis questioned as to why civic works meant for public good has to be concentrated only in Laitumkhrah and Secretariat Hill areas of the city and observed that by concentrating on a few pockets, the Urban Affairs department is doing disservice to the people.
While the footpaths alongside the NCC office near General’s Point on both sides are in bad shape, in some other areas of the city, there are no footpaths other than the roads for the pedestrians to move on.
