SHILLONG, Aug 18: The High Court of Meghalaya has observed that the nature of the Jowai Bypass, the excuses proffered and the continuing expenses for the upkeep of the road indicates a nexus that may not be conducive to the proper maintenance of the road or be in the public interest.
Although the matter pertains to the Jowai Bypass-Ratacherra stretch of the NH-6, the real problem lies in the Jowai Bypass, Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Biswadeep Bhattacharjee said on Friday.
“As far as the stretch from Mihmyntdu to Ratacherra through Khliehriat is concerned, for which the National Highways Authority of India is responsible, it was submitted that the problem area is only at and around the Sonapur tunnel,” the court said.
Apart from such stretch prone to landslides and waterlogging, particularly during monsoon, the rest of the stretch has been repaired and potholes that develop due to the rains are being attended to on a regular basis, it said.
“However, the Jowai Bypass from Mukhla (Thadlaskein) to Mihmyntdu is in an absolutely abominable condition. Passenger vehicles are unable to navigate because of the deep potholes and heavy vehicles suffer regular breakdowns, which has resulted in the bypass being altogether abandoned by most of the vehicles going towards Ratacherra and the internal roads in Jowai regularly getting clogged because of heavy vehicles passing through,” the court said.
“A report has been filed by the state PWD (Roads) but it does not appear that apart from discussions and the tea and coffee in between, anything concrete or even remotely bituminous has been done,” it further said.
Kynjaimon Amse, the petitioner complained that the ordinary work of filling up the potholes with stone chips has not been undertaken, although the photographs appended to the PWD report show some repair work has been completed.
It was observed in previous orders that the rains or the monsoon cannot be an excuse for a road being reduced to the state that the Jowai Bypass has been in, as Meghalaya is one of the wettest places on earth and “the monsoon rains this year have not been any more than previous years”.
The rains have rather been somewhat less than the average, the court pointed out.
The court directed the PWD secretary to visit the site and ensure that the major potholes are filled up within the next fortnight and patchwork is undertaken in such a manner that the heavy vehicles do not suffer breakdowns or are tempted to take the longer route through Jowai town by avoiding the bypass.
While on the subject, the PWD (Roads) was asked to do well to attend to all potholes that have surfaced as a result of lack of maintenance of the state roads or because of the rains, including in and around the major towns, particularly Shillong.
