Black topping in city by NHAI: Minister

A Reporter

SHILLONG, April 2: In spite of clear questions being raised by the common man on why are the good in Shillong are being black topped when the rural areas are crying for better connectivity, the State Minister in charge of Public Works Department (PWD-Roads) Prestone Tynsong on Monday told The Sentinel that the ongoing laying of bitumen is part of the pending project of tiol Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

 “This road which is being laid with new black topping in the city is a tiol Highway and it is the duty of the authority to make sure that all NH roads are all weather roads throughout the year and this falls under the NHAI and not the state government,” Tynsong said.

Concerning rural roads, he said, “This is a state subject which the government has to undertake. Even before the MLA elections, we have stated that people need change and the main thing to create this change is to concentrate on the road sector in rural areas.”

He said some villages have roads but the condition of the road is very poor and in some villages there is no proper road connectivity.

“We have only taken charge of the new government in the state just a few weeks back; so time has to be given to the government to bring the change the people are looking for and as promised we will deliver,” he said.

He informed that the government will take up the initiative to provide better road connectivity in rural areas within the fincial year of 2018-19.

He said the main aim of the government is to provide proper road connectivity in rural areas because if the roads are bad the farmers will face difficulty in transporting their produce.