By Patricia Mukhim
The weather has been rather brusque with Meghalaya. True we have had heavy rains bearing down upon us in the past too but not as furious and unrelenting as it has been in the past few weeks and days. In West Khasi Hills the wild waters of a cloudburst carried a young mother and her kitchen away into the river leaving behind her two small kids in the bedroom. It’s heart-breaking to even conjure these images. In East Jaintia Hills, on the national highway a road caved in due to a sudden gush of flood waters. The road now hangs by a thread. One cannot imagine how truckloads of cement negotiated these precariously hanging roads with deep gorges on one side. But this is also a natural audit process by no less than the Rain God. It has exposed our well-hidden engineering deficits which have been tolerated for decades. Corruption in the Public Works Department is an open secret with engineers and ministers and other clerks down the line, in the Department getting their regular share. The contractor is fleeced so badly that he has no alternative but to cut costs by building sub-standard roads, bridges and buildings. We are seeing all of these shoddy constructions before our eyes today. But if we think that even one engineer would be hauled up for this malfeasance we need to think again. Corruption is so normalised in Meghalaya that no eyebrows are raised, forget about raising voices.
The engineers are all part of polite society; all church-going members who contribute to the church’s coffers; they are part of elite social groups that go for holidays to fantastic destinations together. These same people build roads that in the last few days have developed serious cracks and there are potholes galore around Shillong city while the rural areas are all cut off from civilisation because of heavy landslides.
The funny part is that both earthquakes and rainfall are part of the Meghalayan landscape. So either the engineering institutions never taught the engineers what bio-engineering techniques are and how they can be adapted to reduce landslides. Bioengineering techniques are useful approaches to prevent landslides as they improve slope stability and maintain ecological balance. They are mostly suitable to be deployed in developing countries because of their cost effectiveness and environmentally friendly nature. Practically speaking geologists have a major role to play in suggesting to engineers what are the best ways to reduce landslides and what sort of plants are best to hold the soil together. Bio-engineering suggests that the plants should be deep-rooted and should be indigenous to the place. The reality is that there is hardly any conferencing between geologists and engineers to decide on how to minimise earth cutting and what plants/grass are best at holding the soil together. A recent article by Dr Eladbor Laloo on the geological implications of building another bridge over the Umiam River was a very educative piece and those intending to undertake this complicated task had better consult the home- grown geologists who are otherwise never consulted. Or if consulted it is only to determine the quantum of extractable coal under the earth’s surface in the coal-bearing areas of Meghalaya.
On a road trip from Kolkata to Jamshedpur I witnessed the thickness of the asphalt on the National Highway. That road is set to last a long time. In comparison look at the thickness of the roads here in Meghalaya. They are barely two inches or even lesser in height. They are washed away in the first heavy showers on the monsoon. But what is even more intriguing is that there are no drains on the side of the road for the water to drain into. Even on the Shillong Guwahati highway, we can see water flowing right across the middle of the road because there isn’t a proper provision for drainage. Take a look at the roads around Shillong city and see how many roads have water flowing right through the middle because there are no provisions for drains by the side. Can I ask a question to the Secretary PWD here if it is normal to construct a road without any provision for side drains? Is that part of engineering studies? No wonder roads get washed away so easily. Interestingly, every road goes through some Dorbar Shnong or the other. Isn’t it the brief of the Dorbar to check on the quality of the roads constructed; to test the thickness and the quality of the bitumen mixture. Also, these Dorbar Shnong should insist on suitable drainage structures and gutters all along our roads since we are not only a hilly region but we also receive excess rains during the monsoons. Dorbar Shnong should not feel obliged merely on getting a road. They must insist on good quality roads with proper drainage. On our way from Sohra to Laitkynsew and beyond, during this season we have seasonal waterfalls all along the sides. The waters come down like natural geysers. Without proper drainage at the side the water would erode the main road.
Nature can take only that much and no more. The same nature must be burdened by the level of theft at all levels where engineers build mansions for themselves but don’t have any commitment to quality when it comes to public roads and buildings. Engineers don’t earn salaries that enable them to build those swanky buildings with modern amenities and the best of accoutrements and trimmings that suggest acquisitions from ill-gotten wealth. There is a limit to how much nature can take. Karma always but always catches up and it seems to have come full circle this season from the tumbling of the dome to the leaks and cracks in buildings and bridges to large scale landslides that will take time to restore – we have them all. The only sad thing is that in this country the corrupt get away and have the last laugh. Not a single engineer to date, not even Mr Ransom Sutnga who supervised the installation of the infamous dome at the now disreputable State Assembly building has been asked to explain their acts of omission and commission. Sutnga has in fact passed the buck to his seniors and other co-supervisors of the Assembly building. In fact after the elections 2023 he might himself become the Minister in charge PWD (Roads) or Buildings. We the people of Meghalaya are quite capable of rewarding corruption. We have done it in the past and will do it yet again.
Meanwhile the Government has just formed groups of officials in all districts to manage the disaster that seems to have engulfed the state from all quarters. Repairing the roads that have caved in will require substantial funds but how much of those funds will actually go into making better, more durable roads is the question. At one time Mr PA Sangma as CM had invited a road construction company to build roads that were durable and needed no repairs for close to five years. I sometimes wonder why contractors here are never black-listed for constructing sub-standard buildings and roads that need annual repairs.
It is high time that people approach the Lok Ayukta to bring some sanity to this state. We are so morally deficient as a people that we constantly need the judiciary to give a stern order even for day to day governance. The moral meltdown of this Christian state is near complete!