From A Correspondent
Tura, May 29: A road that many considered to be a blessing is now turning into an absolute nightmare for the people of the plain belt region of West Garo Hills.
The Agia-Medhipara-Phulbari-Tura (AMPT) road that runs through the entire stretch of the plain belt is in such a terrible condition that residents even fear walking on the road.
The reconstruction of the road which was done under a DONER scheme of about 100 crores was completed mostly in 2014 though the poor materials used and the quality of construction meant the road began to break up immediately after its construction.
“We fail to understand as to how things could have gone so wrong for the road as 15 days after its construction, the road began to fall apart. It did not even last one rain. And to add to our trouble, huge potholes have begun to form, some of which are the size of a small pond. We cannot be living like this,” said Zinba N Sangma, a resident of a village near Phulbari.
Residents lamented the development of the road to the earlier one that was present. “We were ecstatic when we heard of the AMPT road being redeveloped thinking we would filly get a quality road. Now though our thoughts have completely been belied. I think the old road was better than this one,” said Mostapha Kabir, a resident of New Bhaitbari.
The entire road from Sign Board in Assam to Garobadha (about 76 kms) now takes a minimum of about 4 hours to pass even for the extremely skilled driver.
“We will once again be writing to the DC of WGH to look into the condition of the road and seek repairs. The road is not even fit for travel by animals! The journey is back breaking and will see many casualties if left this way. Also we can’t understand as to why the people behind this crimil corruption are not being taken to task,” lambasted TA Sangma, a Phulbari resident.
Roads repairs on the stretch have also been minimal with only cosmetic updates being done.
“They sometimes just fill up some stretch of the road with mud which does not even last a day. If it rains the entire thing lasts only about 1 few hours. As residents of the state, we too deserve to have a quality road to travel in,” added TA Sangma.