TURA: The recent move by Meghalaya government to allow the transportation of coal from South Garo Hills to Assam through NH-51 and NH-44-E has alarmed a local body in Garo Hills which raised concern that the two highways would get damaged in no time because of it.
The A’chik Indigenous Justice Initiative Forum (AIJIF) recently dispatched a memorandum to Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma urging that an alternative route is used for the transport of coal.
Currently, coal from South Garo Hills is being transported via NH-62 passing through both NH-44-E and NH-51 to reach its destination in Assam.
The forum pointed to the deplorable condition of NH-62 in South Garo Hills, which has been the main route for coal transport before the collapse of the Krishnai Bridge in Goalpara District of Assam, and has voiced its apprehensions that the same would be the fate of the two national highways if coal transport was continued on the routes.
The forum instead proposed that the matter should be taken up with the Assam Government for repair of the collapsed Krishnai Bridge so that transportation of the mineral can be continued on the earlier route as before.
The forum also suggested the dumping of coal at Mendipathar Railway Station to enable it to be transported by rail.
