Patricia Mukhim
I’m not sure if we should thank the State Government for the swanky National Highway 44 which links Shillong to Nongstoin-Willamnagar-Tura. That one can make it in 2.30 hrs flat from Shillong to Nongstoin and in about 8 hours to Tura is some achievement. This is a project of the Union Ministry for Surface Transport and it gives us a reprieve from having to traverse through Assam and being held to ransom by frequent bandhs and the police shenanigans there. I recall a particular year when students and families were stranded in Assam and could not reach their homes in Garo Hills for Christmas because of the 72 hour bandh called by the Rabhas along the Assam-Meghalaya border. That must have compelled the Chief Minister to fast-track this road project. Chief Minister Mukul Sangma is also instrumental for expediting the completion of Shillong-Jorabat, and the Umroi – Mawryngkneng- Jowai bypass. However our Hon’ble MP Vincent Pala also claims to have taken up the matter with New Delhi. So good show, whoever has done it.
The Umroi bypass took over 20 years to complete. It’s a lot of grunt work to get things done in Meghalaya. And to be fair to Mukul Sangma he has dug in his heels to bring a number of projects to the State. Sometimes I wish I was a resident of Ampati. That place has good roads, a good hospital, a good stadium and perhaps will see many more important infrastructure coming up in the days to come. Some people have accused him of hijacking development and taking it all to Garo Hills. Now I want to ask those former chief ministers from Khasi-land what they have contributed to the infrastructure creation in Meghalaya and why have they been so unsuccessful when it comes to building the state but not their own pockets?
Now let me come to those MLAs/Ministers in whose constituencies the roads look like craters on the moon. Foremost among these is Prestone Tynsong. I am a regular traveler to Shillong- Pynursla-Dawki- and Shillong-Mawlynnong. The road after Nongkynrih has been in a state of constant disrepair. It slows down the journey. The Pynursla-Dawki road is a shame on Meghalaya. And yet the people of these constituencies don’t seem to feel the pinch even though they are the ones who have to travel on these painfully bad roads. Then there is the road from Sadew to Mawngap and Mawphlang under Kennedy Khyriem. The road is (a) very narrow especially as one nears Sadew (b) as elsewhere, the road is eaten up at the sides and in the middle the black top is eroded and completely washed away and the boulders exposed. There is no sign of this road being repaired in the near future. The other bad road is on the Sohiong stretch. All the 3 MLAs are from the Congress Party.
The other very dangerous stretch of highway is the Jowai- Lad Rymbai- Silchar one. Like others of its ilk the road is lined with craters and crowded with trucks whose drivers are mad-caps. The bridges or their remnants are dangerous because the coating has worn off and the rods exposed and with that the potential to tear apart tyres. It’s a hell of a highway but neither the Government of Meghalaya nor Assam could care a damn about this road. For Assam, Barak Valley is only a disposable baggage. For Meghalaya, the representatives of the area are all coal mine owners. Their concern is their business not the state of the road. This sheer apathy of the elected representatives is galling. But what do you do when people keep electing such mercenaries?
Now let me come to the crux of my story. So the highway from Shillong to Tura which passes through Nongstoin is a dream one. But the turn off to the district headquarters of West Khasi Hills – Nongstoin town where all the offices, schools, college, banking institutions, hospitals et al are located is a dirt road. The size of the road has reduced considerably because it has been eaten up by rain water and there is no sign anywhere that the road will be repaired any time soon. I had gone to Nongstoin College to speak to young people from the NSS and Nehru Yuva Kendra on policing, crime investigation and custodial deaths and of course human rights. It was difficult not to stray into the subject of bad roads and poor infrastructure to make the youth understand that human rights are claimed not only vis-à-vis the rule of law and how law-keepers treat the citizens but that good roads, good health care, quality education are also fundamental rights. With all due respect to the late Lion King of Nongstoin – HS Lyngdoh who is revered by the people he has represented successively for nearly forty years, Nongstoin shows no signs of development. The irony of it all is that people elected his driver to be their MLA for the remaining term after Lyngdoh’s death. So it’s not just Tamilnadu that has a Sasikala as claimant to the throne after Jayalalitha’s death. We are told by the people of Nongstoin that HS Lyngdoh let it be known that he wanted his driver to succeed him and people respected that wish and voted for him. Is this democracy or what? I never cease to be amazed at our own ability to subvert this system.
The road to Mawthabah from Nongstoin is what the people of that area want to see being constructed but there are other do-gooders, many of them least affected by the poor condition of the road, who oppose its construction and see it as a ploy of the Government to connect the state to the uranium mines. I think it’s time now for people to vote for what they want and what they don’t. I don’t think it’s fair for pressure groups to decide what’s good or bad for people. They can make decisions based on their own informed choices. And let’s not also pretend that villagers don’t know what’s good for them. If people living in Nongstoin have access to schools, colleges, health care, markets etc., what about the people of Mawthabah and beyond? It’s time for people in the far flung areas to assert their right to development on their own terms and not through the patronage of Government or of pressure groups/NGOs. People need to form collectives and voice their aspirations instead of being told to shut up by some who take decisions on their behalf. This is very disempowering in a democracy!
And as a tailpiece, I hope the Chief Minister is aware that there are certain unsavoury goings-on in the Forest Department which has always been in the spotlight. We are informed that land allegedly meant to be compensated by the cement companies in lieu of forest land allotted to them is a mere paper transaction with nothing on the ground. Also that something is stinking in the Forest Development Corporation. If someone takes the matter to court the Chief Minister will be highly embarrassed.
I am reminded of Ranjit Singh Gill an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre who served here for two decades until he was posted to the Forest Survey of India, Dehra Dun. In 2010 Gill approached the Supreme Court to complain that large scale deforestation was happening in Garo Hills. Gauging by the area of the forest wiped out and the size of the stumps he had seen in the field, Gill estimated that 12 million cubic feet of timber valued in thousands of crore of rupees had been taken out of the Dibru hills reserved forest. In his petition to the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) set up by the apex court Gill pointed out that timber in such volume could not have been consumed in a tiny state like Meghalaya. The bulk of the timber must have been exported to major markets like Kolkata and Delhi, an operation that would have involved the issue of thousands of fraudulent transit passes to cross the forest check gates along the way. It would have been impossible to carry out something so big without involvement of senior forest officers in Meghalaya and other states, and perhaps even militants. Gill sought an investigation by the CBI to uncover the truth.
The Government of Meghalaya conducted an inquiry in 2008 into the destruction of the reserved forests but apparently decided to pull back due to intense lobbying. In that report the inquiry officer had observed that during the period when massive felling took place the same officer was holding the post of Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Garo hills division and was also the Managing Director of Forest Development Corporation of Meghalaya (FDCM). The inquiry officer concluded that there was a conflict of interest here since the same person could order cutting of trees from the reserved forest to provide timber to the FDCM. Normally it is the state government that allots timber from the Garo hills division to the FDCM, but according to the inquiry officer the MD of FDCM in his capacity DFO Garo hills division allotted timber to the FDCM without government’s permission.
The FDCM was trading timber illegally and sending its trucks to Assam and beyond. Worse, the son of the MD was participating in timber trade using his father’s influence in the FDCM. A thousand cubic feet of teak belonging to the FDCM was allotted to the son at a princely sum of Rs 110 for a cubic foot through a process the FDCM described as “negotiation”. Unfortunately the Meghalaya government found the leads in the inquiry report too explosive to handle.
Will Dr Mukul Sangma take action before this thing blows up in the government’s face?