What happened along the Shillong–Dawki road near Pynursla—the stretch where hills have been cruelly brought down by JCBs working around the clock—is a disaster that was waiting to happen. The heavy rainstorm that lashed East Khasi Hills last Saturday had inundated large stretches of roads along the Sohra-Shella highway. Every cliff became a waterfall resembling a geyser and water flowed freely on the road carving its own way down the hilly tracts to land in Bangladesh. The scenes are similar along the Shillong-Dawki road expansion project. Local residents say that human intervention through relentless hill cutting in a region known for landslides is asking for trouble. Mounds of soil, sand, and boulders blocked some natural water passages. Since water seeks its own path it cut right through the middle of the road. It would be fair to say that recent landslides along the Pynursla area are human-induced (anthropogenic) and represent a profound, structural trauma inflicted upon the natural ecosystem. Unlike natural slope adjustments, human activities introduce abrupt, violent disruptions that strip the land of its self-healing capabilities, causing severe ecological degradation and permanent topographical scarring.
What is questionable are the environmental impact assessments and geological clearances given to this project. One look at the relentless hill cutting over two years or more makes even ordinary citizens question the logic of road expansion in such a difficult terrain and whether the project was really called for. Human intervention aggressively compromises geological stability through several key practices such as deforestation where deep-rooted trees strip the slopes of natural anchors that bind the soil. Carving roads through fragile mountain terrains, such as those in Meghalaya often removes the natural “toe” or base of a slope. This leaves unsupported vertical walls that inevitably give way under gravity.
It is also true that mining and quarrying using blasting and heavy excavation fracture the deep bedrock. Nature is traumatised when a mountain collapses due to human action. The damage to the whole ecosystem is catastrophic and long-lasting. Indeed landslides pulverise and bury entire ecosystems. Thousands of hectares of native flora, micro-habitats, and wildlife populations are instantly suffocated or crushed under millions of tons of debris. Sadly, such debris flows down to the pristine rivers forming artificial, unstable mud-dams. When these dams burst, they unleash violent down-valley flash floods that permanently alter the river’s path and aquatic life. Landslides strip away the nutrient-rich humus layer built over millennia. The exposed subsoil or barren bedrock has negligible water-retention capacity, leading to rapid desertification and making natural reforestation nearly impossible.
It is evident that the hills along Rngain, Pynursla up to Dawki are afflicted by chronic ecological stress. Long after the collapse of hills the fractured mountainside remains in a state of continuous trauma. Recurrent soil creep, erosion, and minor slides prevent the land from stabilizing, locking the ecosystem into a perpetual cycle of stress. How did this project get environmental clearance from the State and Central Environment and Forest Departments? Who is really accountable for these debilitating landslides that have cut off communication between Dawki and Shillong? Can the construction company alone be blamed for this misadventure? Ironically, Meghalaya has no NGO to take up environmental issues that would have a long- term impact on the state’s fragile eco-system.
