Potholes on NH-39/AH-1 road near Garampani Wildlife Sanctuary lead to rise in Road Crash Deaths: Reports

Sarupathar: Dilapidated road conditions and Potholes on NH-39/AH-1 road near Garampani wildlife sanctuary took a deadly toll in the past couple of months near the border districts of Karbi Anglong and Golaghat, claims a report.

As per reports, the local media has been constantly highlighting and pointed the pathetic condition of the NH-39/AH-1 road. Though the NH-39/AH-1 road was repaired at Karbi-Anglong district in Golaghat district the potholes remained a major cause of concern for the travelers coming to the wildlife sanctuary at NH-39/AH-1.

It may be mentioned that the wildlife sanctuary and NH-39/AH-1 are divided into two districts one part falls under Karbi-Anglong district and another in Golaghat district.

Reportedly, big potholes had led to many accidents at the Garampani and Nambor wildlife sanctuary from past few months.

Reports claim that the local people from Golaghat district had complained about the matter on several occasions, they also urged the concerned authority to repair the potholes, but no action has been taken so far in this regard. They also demanded that the potholes should be filled up soon to avoid more accidents in the near future.

Also, the potholes deaths have stirred a debate on the inefficiency of and corruptions in PWD and road owning authorities with the government launching campaigns to improve public awareness, but the craters remain a major hazard with lack of road discipline and many two-wheeler riders not using helmets aggravating the risks.

It may further be mentioned that wildlife sanctuary Garampani is one of Assam oldest Sanctuaries is located in Karbi-Anglong area. Garampani means 'hot water' in the local Assamese language and the sanctuary takes its name from the fact that it is famous for its natural hot springs and waterfalls.

The sanctuary is rich in its bio-diversity. Some rare birds can be seen in this sanctuary. The sanctuary is home to hoolock gibbons and golden langurs. The sanctuary is located some 25 km from Golaghat and some 35 km from Sarupathar.

The presence of natural hot water spring and waterfalls along with 51 rare species of orchids makes this an ideal location for the lovers of nature. The sanctuary is spread in a small area of 6 sq km with treasured full of the rare and endangered flora and fauna. The climate of this sanctuary is moist tropical. The vegetation of the sanctuary is tropical semi-evergreen.

Meanwhile, the Garampani wildlife sanctuary provides habitat to a wide variety of wild animals and birds. The mammals population of the sanctuary include the Tiger, Leopard, Clouded Leopard, Leopard cat, Barking Deer, Asian Elephants, Gaur, Hoolock Gibbon, Pig Tailed Macaque, Indian Fox etc and reptiles in the forest include the Python, Cobra, Monitor Lizards and a variety of amphibians and as well as the birds species in the forest include Red Jungle Fowl, Kaleej, Pheasant, different species of Hornbill, Green Pigeon, Green Imperial Pigeon, Racket-tailed Drongo, Myna, Black Hooded Oriole, Parakeet, Dove, Eagle, Kingfisher, Wood Pecker, Barbet Owl, Brown fish Owl etc. On the other hand, Nambor wildlife sanctuary is another wildlife sanctuary in Golaghat district and half most part of the forest is in Karbi-Anglong district 10 km from Garampani wildlife sanctuary, it is spread over 37 sq km and the sanctuary is home to more than fifty rare species of orchid.

Overall, the road connectivity is provided through National Highway- 39 and now recently the NH-39 has converted into Asian Highway- 1 (AH-1). The AH-1 is the longest route of the Asian Highway Network (AHW) and its length 20,557 km (12,774 mi), major junctions in east end Tokyo, Japan and in west end Istanbul, Turkey and locations of the Countries touches Tokyo, Japan via South Korea, North Korea, China, Southeast Asia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran to the border between Turkey and Bulgaria west of Istanbul where it joins end-on with European route E-80.