Death trap at cut-off Mataikhar

‘Developed Assam’ halts at Guwahati outskirts

Our Bureau

Guwahati/ Azara, June 13: A rickety wooden bridge at Mataikhar, just 40 km from Dispur, speaks volumes of Tarun Gogoi government's slogan 'developed Assam'.

The bridge had collapsed two years back. The approaches, on both ends of the bridge, were washed away, spping the only communication link of over six villages.  Since then, villagers along the Assam-Meghalaya border in West Guwahati constituency are struggling to make their voices heard, but the authorities have turned a deaf year.

Uble to get any response, the locals maged to put up a bamboo rack to eble people to commute on foot. However, that arrangement has only turned it into a death trap, especially for the children of Mataikhar MV School who also have to cross the bridge every day.

The dilapidated condition of the bridge has also caused serious inconvenience in ferrying patients. It is a vital link for the villagers of Ranibari, Bilpara, Bandhoupara, Jimirigaon, Batabari besides Maataikhar.

"May be it is because we are border residents, the government has been neglecting us, our needs, and general development of the area. Development should not be confined to the city of Guwahati…it should be equitable," says a villager Paresh Rabha, who cautioned that accidents are waiting to happen, especially during the monsoons when the water level rises. The bridge may collapse any time soon as the structure has become very weak and loose, he added.

It is learnt that the Mirza PWD sub division had sent a proposal to the Chief Engineer of PWD giving an estimate proposal to revamp the bridge. But the file is gathering dust at the Secretariat, it is learnt. In absence of a sanction, the local authorities are helpless.

Locals said they have also given several reminders to local MLA Hemanta Talukdar to take some initiative, but their pleas have not yielded any result.