Shillong-Dawki road project
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 10: The KSU Riwar South Central East Circle and the FKJGP Mihngi Circle have accused contractors involved in the Shillong-Dawki road project of providing “false information” to the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) regarding the frequency of blasting activities.
Leaders of both organisations called on the Field Manager and Executive Director of NHIDCL on Tuesday only to be informed by the latter that blasting activities were reportedly being carried out every day.
However, the groups disputed this claim, stating that ground reports indicate blasting occurs only once a week or, at most, once in two weeks. “How can they mislead by closing the road on a daily basis when blasting is not even happening every day? This has severely affected commuters and the general public,” KSU Riwar South Central East circle Wallamjingshngain Suting and FKJGP Mihngi circle president E Khonglam stated.
Asserting that frequent daytime road closures have caused significant inconvenience, especially during the festive season, the organisations demanded that the road remain open during the day.
In a petition submitted to NHIDCL, the groups highlighted multiple lapses in the execution of the project, alleging that these have caused continuous disruption to traffic flow and negatively impacted the livelihoods of local residents. They expressed concern over the conduct of daytime blasting, which has resulted in long delays and has obstructed essential services such as ambulances.
The groups also criticised the failure to adhere to work schedules, particularly by the company handling Package 2, which they said has repeatedly missed deadlines and caused further inconvenience to commuters and daily-wage earners.
Additionally, while raising the issue of improper dumping of construction debris, they stated that boulders placed along both sides of the highway have narrowed the road and created traffic bottlenecks. The petition also noted damages to agricultural land caused by indiscriminate dumping of soil and rocks, which they warned could lead to legal disputes and have already posed threats to the livelihoods of farmers.
