By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, April 21: The expansion of the Shillong-Dawki road is being paved with the lives of local residents, as the death toll rose to nine on Monday amid allegations that NHIDCL and its contractors are ignoring basic safety protocols in the treacherous Rngain-Mawlieh corridor.
The latest tragedy occurred at approximately 5:30 pm on Monday when a landslide at Mawlieh sent massive boulders crashing onto a Mahindra Bolero Camper. The victims, identified as Nangteibor Khongthohrem (46) of Lumwahniai and Wanbor Nianglang (40) of Pynursla, were returning home from Shillong after purchasing groceries. Their bodies were recovered from the debris at 11 pm.
The fatal stretch near Lyngkyrdem has been flagged repeatedly as a high-risk zone due to aggressive hill-cutting and excavation. Public anger is now mounting against the executing agency, YFC Project Pvt. Ltd. – ACE Construction (JV), for failing to secure loose and hanging rocks following recent blasting operations.
NHIDCL officials claimed that certain hazardous boulders could not be removed via blasting due to the proximity of a local school. However, critics argue the agency failed to employ mandatory non-explosive rock-splitting technology, choosing instead to leave the unstable formations hanging over active traffic.
Local organisations, including the FKJGP Riwar Mihngi Circle and the KSU South Central East Circle, revealed they had explicitly warned authorities of this danger during a joint inspection on March 10. The groups had demanded the immediate removal of unstable soil and the deployment of safety personnel at vulnerable points—requests that were reportedly ignored.
The technical teams of NHIDCL have come under fire for what residents describe as “technical blindness,” with locals noting that even untrained commuters can identify the hazards that officials seemingly overlook.
Monday’s incident is the third major fatal event since the project began. On April 14, 2023, two people, including Wahlyngkhat Rangbah Shnong Seiborlang Jaktung, were killed by falling boulders. On August 3, 2024, five others, including a pregnant woman and a toddler, died when their vehicle plunged into a 70-foot gorge near Rngain.
Despite the mounting death toll, traffic continues to move through the narrow, restricted corridor under precarious conditions. Civil bodies have vowed to intensify their efforts to hold the construction firm and NHIDCL engineers accountable for what they term state-sponsored negligence.
