SHILLONG, Dec 16: The High Court of Meghalaya has issued a series of directions to the state government for promptly dealing with issues affecting the completion of the Shillong-Dawki Road project.
These included the setting up of a committee or the smooth and quick handing over of the acquired land and the quick resolution of local issues affecting the project.
The court on Friday heard a PIL on the proposed felling of 103 trees for the construction of the road.
The bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice W. Diengdoh stated that the petitioner, a lawyer quite appropriately brought to the notice of the court the proposed felling of 103 mature trees between Anjalee point and Jhalupara in Shillong for the widening of the road and the construction of a flyover.
During the hearing, the NHIDCL submitted that the widening of the road between Anjalee point and Jhalupara and the construction of a flyover at Rilbong point form a part of the widening of the Shillong-Dawki Road of approximately 71 km.
According to the NHIDCL, there is a major bottleneck at the Rilbong junction where the road turns right towards Guwahati and carries on straight towards Upper Shillong when vehicles approach from the Anjalee point.
A similar issue with the Rilbong point was underlined in a previous PIL pertaining to the traffic congestion in the city. The waiting period at this point, approached by vehicles from three directions on a regular basis, can be several hours at times.
“Indeed, on the Guwahati-Shillong Road downhill, traffic may be seen piled up beyond Mawlai and sometimes way down till Mawiong,” the court said.
The NHIDCL submitted that the Shillong-Dawki Road, which has been divided into five packages, has already run into rough weather as only two of the packages are ongoing, and because of issues relating to the handing over of the acquired land, two contractors of the other three packages abandoned their contracts.
The corporation maintained that any impediment to the proposed construction in the Anjalee-Jhalupara section will lead to cost escalation and add to the woes of the already congested traffic in entering and exiting Shillong.
The NHIDCL said, after a lot of persuasion at the behest of the state government, precious defence land was handed over for widening the road and access to such defence land necessitates the felling of the 103 trees towards the right of the road while approaching Jhalupara from the Anjalee point.
The corporation assured the court that repeated studies and surveys have been conducted to ensure the least disruption and the minimum desecration of the environment. The petitioner suggested that a committee may be appointed to look into the matter, particularly since a previous committee appointed by this court pertaining to another stretch of the proposed widening of the Shillong-Dawki Road found that a minor change in the alignment could save several trees.
Considering the urgent need to decongest the relevant area, the court requested the NHIDCL to review its position and to ensure very few trees are touched or felled in the course of widening the relevant stretch and the construction of the proposed flyover.
The NHIDCL was also reminded that unlike the temporarily abandoned work on the other stretches after the felling of trees, there can be no lay-off in the work carried out in the Anjalee point to the Jhalupara section, particularly after the trees are felled.
“Due timelines with appropriate bar charts in such regard should be furnished by the NHIDCL by way of an affidavit. The relevant affidavit will also reveal the opinion after conducting a review in the matter of the felling of 103 trees on the relevant stretch. Such an affidavit should be filed within a week after the vacation,” the court ordered.
As far as the other packages of the Shillong-Dawki Road are concerned, the NHIDCL sought the appointment of a monitoring committee to ensure that the land already acquired for the purpose is handed over immediately and the alignment problems are avoided at the intervention of local residents in certain areas.
Apropos such prayer, the state government was directed to ensure that a committee is set up with the chief engineer of PWD (Roads) and a secretary-level official for the smooth and quick handing over of the acquired land and the quick resolution of the local issues that may arise in the other stretches for the work to be taken up in right earnest and completed without any undue delay.
The state PWD secretary has been asked to file an affidavit to indicate the measures taken and the progress made in such regard.
“If it is found that there is no effective measure taken by the state, a separate committee may be set up by the court,” the court said, adding that it will be open to the petitioner to inspect the relevant stretch of road where 103 number of trees are proposed to be felled, of which nine have already been taken down.
The court also pointed out that without causing any delay to the project, the petitioner may also explore measures, with the assistance of NGOs and experts, to transplant any precious or valuable tree that is proposed to be brought down.
“It goes without saying that the NHIDCL will plant an equivalent number of trees at the earmarked areas for felling the 103 trees on the relevant stretch. The NHIDCL is also requested to ensure that appropriate tall trees are planted after the completion of the project so that some of the pristine glory is returned to such stretches of the road,” the order said.
