SHILLONG, April 9: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is concerned over the damage caused to its roads in Meghalaya due to the overloading of heavy vehicles and rampant cutting of hills.
Officials of the authority are planning to meet Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma to apprise him of the situation.
“In the Jowai-Ratacherra section, vehicles carry 50-60 metric tonne of load that are often dumped on the highway. The state administration needs to control this,” a senior NHAI official told The Shillong Times.
The NHAI is also worried about rampant hill cutting in the Jorabat-Khanapara section leading to the clogging of drains. This needs to stop to save the highway from extensive damage, the official said.
He said the hills are being cut for petrol pumps coming up every now and then.
“Everyone seems to be developing his or her business by damaging our roads,” the official said, adding that a six-lane road from Khanapara to Jorabat has been proposed as the stretch is prone to congestion.
“We are going to meet the Chief Minister soon to discuss all these issues,” he said.
Apart from damaging the highways, overloaded trucks have led to important bridges such as the ones at Dwar-Ksuid and Sonapur developing cracks.