TURA: The long delay in the completion of the ongoing construction of a timber bridge in South Garo Hills has irked the Mindikgre Regional Unit of the GSU, with the union submitting a complaint in this regard to the Executive Engineer of NH Division (Roads), Baghmara on Monday.
The bridge in question falls on the Dangsu River, the construction of which was undertaken by the NH Roads Division. According to the union, work on the bridge was abandoned halfway and the same has been lying damaged and unattended since August 2017.
“The wing wall of the bridge has been washed away during floods and the condition of the bridge has now worsened. Due to the incomplete bridge, people from Mindikgre are facing immense hardships,” the union said.
Pointing out that the bridge was sponsored by the Meghalaya Chief Minister himself on request from the Kingdom Gospel Ministries for Believers’ Convention in 2016, the union urged the department to restart its construction at the earliest.
The union also raised the issue of slow construction of the 3 kilometre long PMGSY road from Mindikgre to Gara Songgital and requested that the department monitor the construction to ensure its speedy completion.
Meanwhile, villagers from Tochapara in their separate complaint to the Deputy Commissioner have expressed confusion over the allotment of work for the construction of the PMGSY road from Purakhasia Road to Tochapara Playground.
“There has been no work on the road for over a year now. Also, there is no year and date for start of work and its scheduled completion. The name of the contractor is also not mentioned in the notice board,” the villagers said.
Raising suspicion that the road construction may never take off, the villagers requested the deputy commissioner to take urgent action with regard to the matter.