Tura MP reminds Gadkari

From A Correspondent
Tura, Jul 17: Tura Lok Sabha MP Conrad K Sangma on Monday submitted a memorandum to Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari at New Delhi seeking the road connecting Agia in Assam’s Goalpara district to Garobadha through plain belt areas of West Garo Hills in Meghalaya declared as a tiol highway. 
In a memorandum to Gadkari, the Tura MP reminded the Minister to declare the road from Agia in Assam to Garobadha in South West Garo Hills in Meghalaya via Tikrikilla, Phulbari, Rajabala and Singimari, which is currently under North Eastern Council (NEC), as a tiol highway. In July last year, he had submitted the plea to the Ministry seeking intervention.
“The proposed road is a major lifeline for the people living in that region where a population of over 2 lakh people are affected. During rainy season, the population suffers badly as they completely gets cut off from the rest of the state and country as it gets flooded in the absence of proper road,” Sangma pointed out to Gadkari.
He informed Gadkari that the people living in and around these areas connected by these roads are facing immense and untold hardships as the road has been completely neglected by the Central as well as the State governments for many years.
“As the road condition has worsened, people are now being forced to take alterte route which is a much lengthier in distance as they have to take NH-52 by crossing two districts, thus making it much more expensive to travel and much precious time wasted,” the MP added.
Time and again the people from the plain areas of Garo hills have raised their concern on the poor road connectivity. However, their demands were turned down by the State Government. Recently, several organisations led by the Anti-Corruption League had called for a protest rally at Bhaitbari near Rajabala seeking government intervention. However, the rally could not be held due to inclement weather as part of the plain belt area faced a flood-like situation.
Sangma told the Central Minister that he had inspected two roads persolly last year and found their concerns to be genuine. “And since it has been almost a year now after I raised the issue to your kind self, the roads have now become bad to worse, as no action has been taken<” he wrote. 
He also reminded Gadkari that the construction of a mega bridge connecting Phulbari with Dhubri is in pipeline. “It will be very critical to upgrade the roads to tiol highway serving a multipurpose use and for economic growth of the region<,” he pointed out.
The stretch from Agia to Garobadha is about 50 km.