Tura, Sep 9: The term cosmetic make up is synonymous with the fact that it washes off after applying water to it. The term can be used in its entirety for the cosmetic repairs that have been made on the AMPT road through the plain belt of Garo Hills, but most emphatically towards the stretch between Chibinang and Nidanpur in West Garo Hills.
The 10 km stretch between these two places was hurriedly done up just prior to the completion of elections early this year and for a while until the rains began was just about navigable without being back breaking. However with just the first few showers, things turned nightmarish. The road now, as was earlier, has become a nightmare for travelers and drivers.
The situation comes even as the High Court had ordered the road’s repair to be done under its vigilance following a complaint made by local residents. While the name of the contractor is still not known, given that the HC has recently pulled up the state over poor roads and for blaming the weather for its pitiable state, another earful can be expected.
“You can hardly get out of second gear for these 10 kms as the cosmetic make up done on the road has worn off. What is the point of such repairs if it is not even going to last one month? The PWD needed to be more vigilant to ensure the repair work was done earnestly so that people could be spared the back pain from using such a road,” informed a local resident of Phulbari.
Locals added that while repair work was being undertaken, the contractor just added mud to all the places that had potholes. They then just added a small layer of stones before a wafer thin final layer was added.
“There was no seriousness at all in the road repair work. You can still see what was employed on road construction from the few places where repair work still remains. It’s not impressive at all. The department as well as the contractor needs to be questioned for the quality of repair they have undertaken. While we may not know road construction but the way they have done such shoddy work that you need a degree to make it out,” felt another resident, Peter A Sangma.
