TURA, July 19: One of the busiest roads in the Garo Hills region, the often referenced Agia-Medhipara-Phulbari-Tura (AMPT) road continues to be a nightmare for residents that make daily commutes through the route.
The over-140-kilometre road starts from Tura and ends at Sign Board near the border of Assam. It is used by scores of travellers on a daily basis, connecting important towns of Assam’s Mankachar, Hatsingimari and Meghalaya’s Tura, Phulbari and Tikrikilla. The upcoming bridge between the town of Phulbari and Dhubri across the Brahmaputra will also link to the same road in the future.
What may be dubbed as welcome news is the confirmation from the Deputy Commissioner of West Garo Hills Swapnil Tembe, who confirmed that the process of tendering for the road has begun and is expected to be completed by the end of the month. Work on road is expected very soon.
Currently the section between Tura to Garobadha is easily navigable while the section between Sign Board to Nidanpur is being re-laid.
Earlier the High Court of Meghalaya, taking cognizance of the complaints of the residents of the area, had decided to supervise the reconstruction of mostly disparate sections of the road.
The condition of the road between the villages of Gonglanggre in West Garo Hills to Tikrikilla is no less than a nightmare.
Daily reports of trucks and buses getting stuck while plying on the route has become a norm as potholes, some of which are more than a metre deep, make travel on the route hazardous to even the bravest of souls. Added to that is the commotion that vehicles cause while trying to use whatever little space is left on the road, which further exacerbates the situation.
“You actually feel bad for your car. Every time you take it out, you have to prepare yourself for repairs. There are sections in which even if you are careful, you will hit the bottom of your car. This is not an isolated thing as the entire route between Gonglanggre to Tikrikilla is the same. The distance of just over 75 km takes us more than five hours to navigate on the best days. It could take double of that if you are having a bad day,” said Rajabala resident Nur Islam.
Locals reported that dust was being laid on the bad sections to make it usable until further repairs could be undertaken but it really has not brought much cheer.
The situation can be gauged from the fact that till recently, an order prohibiting heavy vehicles from using the road was issued by the Sub-Divisional Officer of Dadenggre due to the road condition.
It was only withdrawn two weeks ago after some adjustments were made. The road, however, is likely to return to its deplorable state in a few weeks if the rains lash again.
“This is the only state road in which a bicycle competes with a motorcycle and wins. It is not uncommon to see bicycles overtake cars, buses or trucks. The competition to bicycles and bikes come from walkers. It’s impossible to shift to the third gear through almost the entire route,” added Phulbari resident SR Sangma.
For most residents, the process of road rehabilitation needs to start with immediate effect.
“It’s an absolute nightmare that we have to go through if we have to go to Guwahati. The road needs to be rehabilitated with immediate effect. This affects everything in our life – the quality of living, medical conditions and studies. Just the thought of walking on the road makes one cringe,” said a resident of Mankachar, S Bezbaruah.
