Pall of gloom descends on three villages

Staff Correspondent

Shillong, Feb 27: The non-descript Mawbyrkong village of West Khasi Hills district witnessed the worst gloomy day on Monday during the last rights of the nine deceased who lost their lives in the tragic vehicular mishap in the State. Another two adjacent villages of Nongbuddom and Iniong are in a pall of gloom before they will lay eight others to rest on Tuesday.

The deceased numbering to 17 was part of the 92 odd passengers that booked a truck to ferry them to a religious congregation to Nonglang, West Khasi Hills. Their destition for a soulful religious meeting at Nonglang turned tragic when the conveying truck that travels at a high speed led to their deaths besides injuring 62 others in an unwanted mishap.

“It’s a pall of gloom that has descended at Mawbyrkong,” stated a village elder.

Similar joint carriage of the five from Nongbudum and three others from Iniong Village will be held on Tuesday amidst irreconcilable facts of the tragic that inflicted their villages. Local MLA KP Pangniang is camping in three villages that also witnessed 62 others sustaining critical injuries in the mishap. He told The Sentinel: “All the villagers have not recovered from the shock particularly when most of them are closely knitted in all terms of family and societal relations.”

According to Panniang, 26 of the injured are in the North eastern Indira Gandhi regiol Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGHRIHMS) –out of which six are in the Intensive care unit, -6-7 are in Shillong Civil Hospital, 1 in Woodland and the rest are in John Robert Hospital and Nongstoin civil Hospital. Rumors of further toll of death could not be authenticated till filing of this report.

Amidst the gloom that struck the family members and the three villages, the district administration has forwarded a proposal to the state government for an ex-gratia payment. Deputy Commissioner of West Khasi Hills Arun Kumar Kembhavi confirmed that the matter has been processed.  

The local MLA also said that a relief committee will be constituted by Tuesday where the religious, social organizations and people of other works of life will be requested for aids to the bereaved families.

Going by the rration of the local representative in the Legislative Assembly, It was the timely reaction team of the District administration and the people of the nearby villages that make the rescue and evacuation works more laudable. “We have lost so many lives and should have lost more if not for these benevolent interventions,” a mournful Pangniang stated.