Hay, paddy strewn on road in GH gets commuters’ goat

TURA, May 23: Making a downright mockery of the law and order, residents from the plainbelt of West Garo Hills, in many places along the Agia-Medhipara-Phulbari-Tura (AMPT), have taken over half the road in order to dry their hay and paddy.
The situation, which may be chucklesome to some, may not be the same for commuters who have to reel under traffic woes as the section of the road left for the vehicles to traverse is just half.
The imbroglio is not unique to this year but has become an annual affair, especially in the aftermath of rise in water levels. Due to alleged dearth of space for locals to dry their paddy and hay, they conveniently begin lining the same by the side of the road before taking over almost more than half of the road.
The hay and paddy are protected by their owners using stones and sticks as barricades to deter vehicles from plying on the portion of the road where the hay and paddy get dried. In some cases, even nails hammered into sticks have been used.
The road blockade begins just two-three kilometre after Phulbari and continues on through the entire stretch up to Hallidayganj. The unconcerned owners reportedly exploit good sections of the road and leave the hazardous ones for the vehicles to ply on.
“This is extremely inconvenient for anyone travelling on this road. It is ridiculous that they are blocking the road with such impunity and no one is taking any form of action. Don’t know which other part of the state is being allowed to be menaced this way. There has to be a better way to dry your hay without occupying half the road,” said Peter Sangma, a resident of Phulbari.
What is even more interesting is that when the DC concerned was apprised of the situation with the help of photographic and video evidence, a complaint was nevertheless sought.
The DC later assured action based on the videos and photos forwarded to him by this correspondent.