By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, June 12: Cut off from basic services and crippled by poor connectivity, residents of 22 villages in the Syntumaw-Umdohkha area of Ri Bhoi have petitioned the Meghalaya government for urgent intervention to construct a 10-kilometre road and a vital bridge over the Umsiang river at Pahamdingngan.
The memorandum, submitted to Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, revealed the misfortune in this remote belt where monsoon rains turn muddy tracks into dangerous, impassable stretches. Villagers, especially schoolchildren, the elderly, and the sick, are forced to navigate treacherous terrain just to access markets, schools, healthcare, and government services. “This is not just a road. It’s a lifeline,” said Charles Marngar, Mawhati MLA and Chairman of the 22 Shnong Joint Action Committee, who led the delegation. “Without it, even emergency services are a distant hope. Pregnant women, patients, farmers — everyone suffers.”
The proposed road from Syntumaw to Umdohkha and the accompanying bridge at Pahamdingngan is seen as essential to ending the prolonged neglect faced by the region. At present, villagers carry goods on foot for miles, while ambulances and transport vehicles remain unable to reach the area during large parts of the year.
Highlighting the impact of neglect, the petition stated, “Development cannot reach us unless there is a road.
Our children walk for hours to attend school. Patients are carried in makeshift stretchers. A single bridge could change everything.”
The 10-km stretch, once completed, would drastically improve mobility and stimulate economic activity by linking the villages to larger markets and administrative hubs.
The petitioners have urged that the project be taken up under any suitable rural infrastructure or connectivity scheme. “We place our trust in the Deputy Chief Minister’s leadership and hope that this project will be sanctioned without delay,” Marngar said.