SHILLONG: The youth of villages located on Indo-Bangladesh border- Huroi, Hingaria, Lailong and Lejri in the East Jaintia Hills district – met sought the Governor of Meghalaya Banwarilal Purohit on Monday to apprise him of the underdevelopment state of their area as well as the district.
In a memorandum addressed to the Governor, the youth stated that the Sonapur-Borkhat road which connected the villages to the National Highway-44, is in a very bad condition.
“The road is a kutcha road and is filled with mud and water and as such the road is not motorable during the rainy season. Around 10 kilometers of the road was metaled way back in the year 2012, while the other portion has been left kutcha till date,” the memorandum stated.
Highlighted the absence of primary health care facility, the youth told the Governor that the villages had only one health sub-center without a doctor under Umkiang PHC which is about 60 kms away from these villages.
Again, they pointed out the absence of mobile network connectivity in their villages and stated the villagers were compelled to use Bangladeshi mobile connection which is easily accessible in these villages.
“The villages being located in the most neglected part of the state is living at the mercy of the Bangladeshi people who provide us with our daily domestic needs,” the youth said.
The aggrieved villages from time to time have requested the local MLA, MDC and MP, the district administration and the Government to build proper road connecting these villages, however no appropriate action has been taken so far to build the road.
They went on to state that the situation was so bad, that one of the villages Huroi has decided to boycott the upcoming Assembly Election because of the inaction on part of the state government to build the road that will be a lifeline for the villagers in the far flung border area.
“There has been a proposal by the PWD(R), NEC Khliehriat to repair the road with an estimate amount of Rs 64 crore. The proposal was submitted to the government in December 2016 but no action has been taken by the government to approve the same,” they have mentioned in the memorandum.
They added, “Similarly, the PWD(R) has proposed a road project Rymbai-Borkhat-Jalalpur road worth 94 crores in the year 2011. The proposal was submitted to the North Eastern Council for approval but the government took no action to get the approval.”
The youth who sought the Governor’s intervention, were assured by him that speedy action would be taken and that he would treat this matter as a top priority and would do all possible action to help the villagers.
The Governor also assured that he would talk and write to the Chief Minister of Meghalaya on the matter. The Governor summoned the officials of the North Eastern Council, PWD(R) and even the Chief Secretary and expressed his concerned about the problems faced by the villagers.