SHILLONG: The plan of Meghalaya Government to extend the four lane road project from Umiam towards Shillong has hit a stumbling block even before the project could be implemented as some land owners along the stretch are not willing to part with their land for the road expansion project.
Talking to media persons here recently, Deputy Chief Minister, in charge, PWD, Prestone Tynsong said that the Government was still working on the proposed project but since some portion of the land in the stretch belonged to the private clan and individuals, they were not willing to part with their land.
It may be mentioned that the department has been holding discussions with landowners to part with their land for converting the Umiam-Mawlai stretch into four lane since the four lane road from Jorabat ends at Umiam after which it is a two-way up to Shillong.
The problem of traffic jam is compounded as the stretch from Mawiong to the city often remains packed with vehicles and to reduce the traffic in the areas, the Government also constructed Mawlai Bypass which is now opened for the traffic.
The state government has given a push to the plan to expand the Guwahati-Shillong road to four lanes till the city to reduce congestion from Mawiong. It takes 1.5-2 hours to reach Umiam from Guwahati but the problem starts after crossing Umiam and it takes around an hour or more to reach Shillong from there due to heavy traffic. Frequent travellers say the road is generally clear till Mawiong and after that one will usually find long queue of vehicles till Shillong and it consumes most of the time.