Akon Bora draws flak, people take to streets seeking road renovation

*    Plight of Hatigaon-Sijubari-Notboma Road in the heart of Guwahati is pathetic. Local people blame it on Akon Bora for doing precious little in his two consecutive terms.

*    Local people warn Akon Bora that he will have to face the music in the forthcoming Assembly elections if the road is not renovated by December this year.

*    Three demands spelt out for Dispur are - renovation of the road by December this year, street lights from Hatigaon Chariali-Notboma and developing the draige system there.

*    Local people threaten local MLA that they may ban his entry into the area if the road is not renovated by December.

*    With 30 city buses, 25 trekkers, hundreds of autorikshaws and other forms of vehicles plying on it, the road is a busy one. There is also a nursing home.

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Nov 1: A road sking along within a km of Assam Secretariat in Dispur has been giving motorists the worst experience of driving for the past three years! It is also a fact that the condition of the road was never better in the past 15 years, thanks to the development being claimed by Dispur!

The road being talked-about here is the Hatigaon-Sijubari-Notboma Road in the heart of Guwahati. When one talks of this road, one has to take into account the performance of the Congress Government in the State as the road lies in Dispur LAC that has been held for the last three terms by the Congress, two consecutive terms by Akon Bora.  

Hundreds of people of the locality took to the streets staging a blockade today by shouting slogans like 'Akon Bora murdabad' as Bora paid no heed to the repeated pleas of the people of the locality for the development of the road and its pathetic draige system.

Hatigaon-Sijubari-Notboma road is a busy road with 30 city buses, 25 trekkers, hundreds of autorikshaws and other forms of vehicles plying on it. The road lies in a minority-domited area in the city where lies a nursing home also. "If this is the attitude of the State Government towards the minority people in Guwahati, one can guess at ease what could be the situation of minority people in other areas in the State," the local people said, and added: "The road gets inundated when there is a spell of rains. The plight of the road has been pathetic for about three years, even though the condition of the road was never good in the past 15 years. School and college-going students, office goers and others have a harrowing time because of the plight of the road. How come the condition of the road could be this that lies in the yard of Dispur? Local MLA Akon Bora has no sense of responsibility. Whenever we meet him, he only gives us assurances that are never met. We also met State PWD Minister Ajta Neog for the improvement of the road, but to little avail. If the road is not renovated by December this year, we will be bound to ban the entry of Akon Bora into the area. He will  have to face the music in the forthcoming Assembly elections in the State."

Minority Youth Council, Assam (MYCA), which was part of today's protest, is sceptical of the condition of the road. Talking to newsmen here today, a MYCA office-bearer said: "Despite repeated pleas, the road has not been renovated. We want to spell out three demands for the State government - the road should be renovated within December this year, besides illumiting the street from Hatigaon Chariali to Notboma with street lights and improving the draige system there so as to rescue the local people from the problem of water logging."