Travel by Chatribari Road? Beware of rocky road!

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, July 1: Want to use the shortcut Chatribari Road from AT Road to reach a whole lot of destitions – Birubari, Agthgaon, KC Das Commerce College and other places?  One will certainly be on a rocky road, if one chooses it. 

The condition of 150–200 metres of the road is much more than pathetic. This does not mean that the remaining stretch of the road is in good condition. One can surmise the condition of the road from the very fact that it has not been renovated for around ten years. Leaving a road without renovation for ten years in Assam and elsewhere in the country has a gulp of difference. First, the soil texture of Assam and other States in the Northeast is quite different from that of the rest of India. This is the reason why roads in this region cannot take much load, and much damage is done by the monsoon rains. This apart, shoddy construction works in Assam is an open secret.

This stretch of the road has no sign of bitumen used while blacktopping it. Bitumen disappeared long black laying the stone chips and concrete material used while blacktopping the road bare. These stone chips are notorious for causing accidents. The road is dappled with craters, including some big ones, posing a threat to drivers and riders, let alone pedestrians.

The problem on the road has been compounded by a culvert that has been put in place at the juncture where it meets AT Road. The culvert is much higher than Chatribari Road, and as such it does not carry the water that keep coming from the road. This technical defect is behind the stagtion of water on either side of the road for days together. 

The importance of this road is immense. There are business houses on either side of the road, and as such it is highly used. Even as the condition of the road is very pathetic, many people have to use this road as they have no altertive. Since this road leads people to important places and institutions like KC Das Commerce College, Athgaon, Birubari, Chabipool, Sarabbati, Bishnupur, and the like the condition of the road proves it beyond doubt that the government has all along been resorting to misplaced priority in road renovation.

Commenting on the condition of the road, social activist Nekib Imam Saikia said: “We’ve forgot as to when the road was renovated. The culvert at the junction of AT Road and Chatribari Road is much higher than the Chatribari Road. How can water pass through? Rather water will flow over the road from the culvert. If the height of the road is raised, most of the houses and business establishments on either side of the road will be susceptible to water–logging. The plinth levels of this houses and business establishments are in sync with the road level.”