SHILLONG, Aug 17: Allegedly neglected since the last repair work undertaken during the time of late PA Sangma, the Umsning-Jagi road is now bound for a facelift as Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has laid the foundation stone for the road in a function at Mawhati, Ri-Bhoi.
In his address, the chief minister called the Umsning-Jagi road crucial and strategic, especially in terms of interstate trade with Assam.
“With this road, we can connect faster to Jagi Road and then to Upper Assam which makes it a very strategic road, economically, as the entire area in this region or the district has a lot of trade with Jagi Road and the rest of Assam,” he said, while adding that the road will be of more importance for the connectivity between Assam and Meghalaya in future.
Funded by World Bank under the Meghalaya Integrated Transport Project (MITP), the 40.13-kilometre-long Umsning-Jagi road project costs Rs 83.38 crore, and has 36 months to be completed.
About 17 villages are directly connected by this road, which plays the main role in their socio-economic development of people living in the rural areas, besides connecting many far-flung villages.
The road also serves as a lifeline for the locals in terms of transportation of essential commodities and commercial products to the villages and others agricultural and forest products.
The scope of work under this project includes widening of existing carriageway width to 5.5m intermediate standard within the available Right of Way (ROW).
The chief minister also stated that the Bhoirymbong-Mawlasnai-Sabuda road of 10 kilometre length amounting Rs 18.5 crore, has also been sanctioned and allotted, adding that many PMGSY roads and other developmental projects are in the pipeline for the area.
