Broken road a cause for worry before Garo religious meet

TURA: With only two days left for the 143rd A’chik Baptist Dalgipa Krima Sobha, deemed the largest religious gathering in Garo Hills, the organisers are worried over the poor condition of the only road leading to the venue at Karukol in South Garo Hills.
It is expected that the five-day event, which starts on Wednesday, will record a footfall of over 2 lakh devotees from different parts of the North East and abroad. But the dilapidated NH-62, the sole lifeline for the district, is giving the organisers and other stakeholders sleepless nights. The opposition National People’s Party (NPP) has shot off a letter to Chief Minister Mukul Sangma pointing out the difficulties being faced by the public and the organisers, who are having a back-breaking experience by travelling on the damaged road.
“The most damaged portions of NH-62 are from Dangsa A’we to Baghmara town and from Dalu to Karongre,” said NPP leader Rakkam A. Sangma.
Delegates for the Sobha are coming from the US and Bangladesh as well as from Nagaland, Assam and the rest of Khasi Hills and Garo Hills. “We have written to the Chief Minister to urgently look into the matter,” said district NPP president Milan M. Sangma.
South Garo Hills hosts the religious congregation every year but plans are afoot to shift the event to a permanent site in West Garo Hills by 2020.
NPP has expressed its displeasure over the alleged lack of development of the district despite Meghalaya’s first chief minister late Captain Williamson A. Sangma and former deputy chief minister Late Lotsing A. Sangma hailing from the region.
“South Garo Hills gives the highest revenue to the state by way of royalty for coal and limestone as well as agricultural produce. Yet such a step-motherly treatment is meted out to us,” rued the NPP leaders in a joint statement to the media.