By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The ability of the Public Works Department (PWD) in the State to construct good roads is again in the question with doubts being cast over the renovation work on the VIP road leading to the Shillong Airport at Umroi.
The Government had earlier taken up the restoration of this VIP road starting from Mawlai Mawroh passing through SANKER, Mawtawar and Mawsiatkhnam before finally reaching the Shillong Airport.
Even though the renovation work of this VIP road is still incomplete, one would notice that the contractors engaged by the PWD have failed in their duties to or shirked their responsibilities since damage to those portions of the road where black topping was recently taken up are clearly evident.
As part of the restoration work, stretches of the original road from Lad Mawroh had been re-dug apparently for widening purpose.
However, the expectation of the people to get a better road remains a distant dream as the road has neither been widened nor repaired properly.
The work is neither being executed properly nor is the renovation work being done according to the standard norms. A major portion of the road is yet to be black topped.
According to people who reside near this VIP road, the black topping of this road was done only recently and damage is already evident.
“Within a short period of time, pot holes after pot holes have already started developing. The quality of work in the re-constructed road is highly questionable,” the local residents said.
The residents also recalled that the thickness of the original road was more than the re-constructed road and also questioned the delay in black topping the remaining portion of the road.
When contacted, PWD (Roads) Secretary S Chyrmang admitted that the work for the project is yet to be completed.
“The project is pending especially near the Airport. The Airport was ready to part with a land width of only 10 feet which is not enough for the construction work,” Chyrmang said.
The PWD official also denied that the reconstruction work on the 30-km long VIP road was for a double-lane road.
