KSU, villagers take upon themselves to connect SWKH village with good road

MAWKYRWAT, May 2: The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU), along with the people of Mawtngam village and some individuals from Mawkyrwat area, have successfully constructed a 1.4-km road from Nongeitser to Mawtngam village.
It may be mentioned that Mawtngam village, which is just 20 km from Mawkrywat in South West Khasi Hills, is where the king of the then independent Maharam kingdom and a freedom fighter, U Sngap Sing Syiem, spent most of his time.
With previous governments having failed to construct the road, the locals took it upon themselves to do the same.
KSU South West Khasi Hills president, Forwardman Nongrem, informed that the government, through the Border Areas Development department, had last year sanctioned an amount of around Rs 41 lakh for the construction of a road from Nongeitser to Mawtngam. However, construction of only a 1.2-km stretch of road could materialise.
“After getting to know that the amount sanctioned was not enough to construct a road from Nongeitser to Mawtngam village, the people of this village along with the KSU South West Khasi Hills district, KSU Mawkyrwat Circle and some individuals from the area, had decided to construct the remaining part of the road to Mawtngam, which is about 1.4 km, on their own,” Nongrem said, adding that the union was tired of waiting for the village to be connected with a good road.
“We had decided to take part in constructing this road as a mark of respect to this great warrior who fought against the British and also to ease the problems faced by the people of this village in all these years,” Nongrem said, adding that the government should also sanction money for blacktopping of the road.
“It is a shame that every year the people of South West Khasi Hills district celebrate November 30 as Sngap Syiem Day, which is also a district holiday, but the very village of Sngap Sing Syiem was left behind by successive state governments in all areas,” Nongrem said.