TURA: In an age of modern engineering and express highways the irony could not be more telling!
For a state which vies for a smart city tag, it has villages in one of its desolate region hanging on to dear life on a rickety bridge.
Meet the villagers of Rongsak Songgital, Sawilgre, Gongnaggre and Bansingre that are located across the Simsang river and form part of Williamnagar Legislative Assembly Constituency.
People from 200 families from these four villages have been using the service of a hanging bridge made from bamboo to cross the river into Rongsak village every day for generations.
Until two years ago, villagers would not hesitate to negotiate the strong water currents, even at peak monsoon season, because their income depended on it.
They made their daily trip across carrying fruits, vegetables and locally angled fish to sell on the roadside to passing commuters who purchased without much of a negotiation.
Not anymore. With the opening of the new highway, NH-44, connecting Jengjal with Williamnagar, tourists and travelers alike has since disappeared and revenue dried up.
“We use to maintain our families and also the repairs of the bridge with the money generated from sale of our produce to travelers. That has now gone. Since 2013 we have not been able to do any construction work on the bridge due to lack of funds,” said villagers from Bansingre who fear for their children who use the damaged bridge to go to school. The hanging bridge is perched over seven meters high in the air.
They had constructed an alternative bridge at a much lower altitude to use for which each household contributed a sum of two hundred rupees. But the danger is when the rains come in and the new bridge gets washed away, a common phenomenon every monsoon season.
The new deputy commissioner of East Garo Hills, Ram Kumar, has, in the meantime, taken stock of the scenario and is looking at ways to provide for either repair of the existing bridge or find an alternative route for the villagers to safely utilize.
