The presence of Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari at the North East Infrastructure Summit in Shillong raises hopes for better roads and highways connecting the state capital and rural habitats. Gadkari has promised to invest Rs 3214 crores for major road infrastructure projects. However, the quality of such highways is what the Union Minister ought to focus on but that’s provided the route he took while coming to Shillong is the one through which ordinary citizens use to commute from point A to Point B. Within Shillong city the quality of most roads leaves much to be desired. In Meghalaya it is unheard of that a contractor is blacklisted for constructing roads that last only one season. Large parts of the Khasi-Jaintia Hills is a hilly terrain and road construction on such terrains is a challenge but the state Public Works Department should be having qualified engineers to overcome such challenges. Meghalaya is also known for its heavy monsoons and the India Meteriological Department has just sounded a warning that heavy rainfall within the next few days could result in flash floods in Shillong city with East Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and South West Khasi Hills being more vulnerable. East Khasi Hills also means that the Shillong-Pynursla-Dawki Road currently under construction should see further landslides and pose risks for travelers on that route.
What is noticeable about road construction projects in Meghalaya is that side drains are largely missing, hence rain water flows across the road and creates cracks that lead to further erosion of the road. Storm drains wherever they are built are clogged with plastics and other forms of garbage since civic sense is largely non-existent. In areas beyond the municipality localities are under the traditional heads whose only source of revenue is the meagre collection form households. Much of that money goes towards maintenance of the localities including the managing garbage collection. It is now high time for the Union Ministry for Road Transport and Highways to take stock of the kind of roads and highways built with the sanctioned amounts otherwise large chunks of the money could disappear into private pockets. The problem with the citizenry is that they complain in private and have never come together to demand better roads and highways. The road going towards Union Christian College further up to Mairang etc., has been in a dilapidated state with just some light repairs to appease the residents of Umbir, Umsaw Nongsder etc. This is unacceptable considering that the road leads to one of the oldest colleges and several other institutions, apart from being a potential tourist destination.
Hence while Meghalaya can rejoice over the major road infrastructural boost, it is the quality of those roads that is important and the public should rise to the occasion to demand quality roads and other public infrastructure. For too long the central ministries have funded projects in the north eastern region and boasted about turning an otherwise disconnected periphery into a well-connected hub but without strict monitoring mechanisms in place. If the MoRTH is serious about developing the road infrastructure in the entire North Eastern region which includes roads that connect villages to the state headquarters, it also has to put in place a rigid monitoring mechanism to ensure that people actually benefit from such projects and that the roads, highways and bridges don’t collapse as they have been doing elsewhere.
