Govt’s initiative ‘Khyndailad Beautification project’ fails
SHILLONG: The interlocking tiles pavement in Police Bazar has become an eyesore as the tiles have started to break and peel off.
The state government under its initiative ‘Khyndailad Beautification project’ had a few years back paved the entire stretch with interlocking tiles at a cost of more than Rs 1.6 crore. However, the tiles are now in a sorry state of affairs.
The government had announced the project in 2011-2012, which took a couple of more years to implement.
However, the tiles could only survive for 5-6 years.
Shopkeepers in the area said that the government only took the initiative of paving the stretch with the tiles but never bothered about maintaining it as none of the authorities ever thought of keeping these tiles in a good shape all these years.
The tiles have broken in several areas while some have loosened up in several places.
The idea behind the initiative was to promote walking and to make Police Bazar stretch an area like the MG Marg in Gangtok.
In Gangtok, the roads are so clean that one can even lie down on the stretch and no hawkers are allowed to do business there.
However, the idea did not work in Shillong as the situation here is exactly the opposite and the once beautiful stretch is ruled by hawkers selling all sorts of stuff ranging from shoes, clothes, Kwai to cigarettes and many more. Some even cook snacks in gas fire thereby leading to the damage of the tiles.
In addition, the shops in Police Bazar never keep dustbins leading to littering in the stretch or in the drain constructed during the project.
There are also no rules on vehicles plying in the area as once the shops close, people are seen driving their vehicles on these tiles thereby leading to their dislocation.
