JOWAI: People residing along the Indo-Bangladesh border in East and West Jaintia Hills districts have a lot of grievances against the State government as they have been harbouring feelings of alienation and neglect as far as developmental activities are concerned – be it road connectivity, supply of potable drinking water or availability of health services.
The PWD road which was supposed to be complete two decades ago passing through Hingaria village in East Jaintia Hills close to the international border is yet to be completed thereby creating inconvenience not only to the border settlers but also to members of the Paramilitary forces who are dutifully guarding the international border.
“We are unable to take our beloved ones during medical emergency to nearby hospitals or health centres and in many cases we have lost our kith and kin midway during transportation,” headman of Hingaria village said while speaking of the apathy of the State government towards their genuine needs.
The headman added that the nearest market from their village was at Umkiang but due to the inaccessible roads the people in the border areas can hardly transport their produces to the nearest local market.
Not only the common people but even the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are facing hardships due to the absence of road or mobile phones connectivity. There is no mobile network and no proper power supply. Due to the absence of mobile networks in the entire border area the BSF troops are finding it difficult to assert the safety and security of the border areas. A senior BSF official informed that installation of mobile towers with proper networks coverage will help the BSF personnel. “Every one of us is on the job to protect the border but we also have wife and children; in this modern and advanced world we have mobile phones to connect with our loved ones but when there is no network we feel really helpless,” the officer said in a candid disclosure.
“Road connectivity and mobile phone coverage are the top priorities beside other basic necessities of the people residing all along the border,” the officer said while making a demand for the same.
The BSF personnel deployed in the border areas come to the aid of the local people by providing emergency medical attention.
