A CORRESPONDENT
LAKHIMPUR: The Dhakuakhana District Senior Citizens’ Association (DDSCA) will organize a mega mass convention at Subansiri on December 1 in order to demand the construction of Dhakuakhana-Ghunasuti connecting road of Lakhimpur district. The event will be held at Subansiri Kaibarta High School playground in association with Dhakuakhana, Ghilamora, Pachim Machkhowa, Pachim Dhakuakhana, Kekuri-Sonari Chapori, Pub Dhakuakhana, Subansiri and Ghunasuti branch units of Dhakuakhana District Senior Citizens’ Association.
The Dhakuakhana-Ghunasuti connecting road is a crucial road of Lakhimpur district. The road was first constructed in post-independent India in 1956. Since then no successive governments of the State or the Centre had paid due to attention to reconstruct or repair the road during the long period of more than 60 years, despite it being a long-pending demand. Had the road been reconstructed and three bridges - one over Subansiri at Ghagar Ghat, connecting North Lakhimpur and Ghunasuti, the second over Mora Subansiri and the third over Mora Sampora - been constructed, the road would have been the shortest way with a distance of 30 km to connect Dhakuakhana subdivisional headquarter with North Lakhimpur, the headquarter of Lakhimpur district. But because of the deplorable condition of the road and the lack of the bridges, the people of Lakhimpur district headquarter and the Dhakuakhana subdivisional headquarter have to travel more than 80 km along the NH-15 and Gogamukh-Dhakuakhana State Highway to communicate with both places.
On the other hand, though the island district Majuli is connected with Dhakuakhana through Dhakuakhana-Kamalabari Road, the people of the island district would have been much more benefitted if the communication along Dhakuakhana-Gunasuti connecting road, which is known as DK Road, running from North Lakhimpur town up to Dhakuakhana via Ghunasuti would have been even and smooth. Then the people of Majuli could have directly gone to North Lakhimpur town without travelling through the Gogamukh-Dhakuakhana State Highway and then NH-15 from Gogamukh to Lakhimpur, during the time of emergency, medical purposes or day-to-day needs. Moreover, had the crucial road been constructed, a revolutionary change would have been possible in the outreach areas of Dhakuakhana and Majuli and in the socio-economic, cultural and tourism sectors of both districts.
So, under these circumstances, the mega mass convention will be organized on December 1 to demand adequate steps on the part of the State and Union governments with regard to the construction of the crucial road and the bridges concerned within 2020. The organizer of the mass convention, Dhakuakhana Senior Citizens’ Association will invite Dhakuakhana MLA and State P&RD Minister Naba Kumar Doley, Lakhimpur MP Pradan Baruah and Lakhimpur MLA Utpal Dutta to attend the event.