Pitiable state of highways

The condition of National Highways across most parts of Assam is in a very pitiable state. As has been pointed out by various print and electronic media, the National Highways have become full of huge craters, which in urn have made certain portions of these vital lifelines of the state into virtual death traps. Poor quality of construction, poor monitoring and supervision by the government officials concerned, a lackadaisical attitude of the elected representatives like MPs and MLAs, have all contributed towards what the highways have been reduced to. While it is open secret that political parties and leaders often seek huge sums of money as donation from the different construction companies engaged to construct the highways, the numerous other organizations and associations of the state – from student bodies to literary bodies to religious bodies – also collect ‘donation’ from the construction companies and contractors, which the latter gives not from their pockets but from the fund meant for construction of highways and other infrastructure. The numerous Bihu and puja committees and other committees that organize various kinds of festivals too extract money from the construction companies and contractors, a portion of which goes to the singers and musicians and other artistes who take huge sums for performing in such cultural functions. Thus it is a kind of nefarious cycle – if not a nexus – which eats into vital funds meant for construction and maintenance of highways and other infrastructure in Assam. Many a times the funds come as loans from the World Bank, IMF, JICA and other financial institutions, with the government having to repay the same with interest. What is most dismaying is that no one admits that this ‘donation’ culture has been eating into development funds, because almost everyone has a share of it. The only exception is the common citizen, who has to suffer for no fault of his or her. The story however does not end there. There are certain construction firms who deploy very little portion of the actual sanctioned fund and carry out very low-quality work, thus making huge profits. When questioned, almost all these companies have an answer – the heavy rains. They also privately blame the ‘donation’ culture of Assam. But then, it is also a fact that if they are giving away say 10 per cent of their profit, they would say that they are being forced to pay up to 90 per cent of their profit, which is a blatant lie. One big example of how various nexuses take advantage of the situation is the Dima Hasao Hills. While huge amounts of central funds were pumped into the district for construction of the four-lane National Highway and the new broad gauge railway track, almost every politician and government officer had become part of a nexus that also roped in contractors and militant groups (most of the militant groups were creations of the political leaders themselves) to loot the money meant for the four-lane highway and the broad gauge railway. There were allegations of also one former governor of Assam becoming a major beneficiary of this loot, though such allegations are yet to be substantiated with hard evidence. Majuli too can become a similar case study where almost every organization had reportedly collected donations from funds meant for protection works of the world’s largest river island. There were suggestions that noted social worker Sanjoy Ghose was killed because he had exposed the nexus of corrupt officers, unscrupulous contractors, dishonest elected leaders, unprincipled social organizations like students and youth bodies, all of whom had taken a share of precious funds meant for protection of Majuli from the river-bank erosion caused by the Brahmaputra. More than half the reason behind the deplorable condition of our National Highways too is the same. If they blame the rains, then they should go to nearby Meghalaya or Bhutan and find out for themselves why the condition of National Highways there do not deteriorate the way they do in Assam.