Guwahati’s Crumbling Roads Pose Daily Hazard, Urgent Repairs Needed

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: Leave alone potholes causing accidents on National Highways; even commuters on important roads in Guwahati are prone to suffer the same fate, as many stretches on these roads are in a dilapidated condition. The photo featured here highlights this aspect of the roads in the city, showing a stretch of the Borbari-Hengrabari road, which links the VIP Road to Ganeshguri and Zoo Road.

Interestingly, the Kamrup (Metro) DC office was located on this road and was functioning until a few weeks back. Now, this road has turned into a major headache for commuters, as they have to negotiate the potholes without causing some accident, particularly those on two-wheelers.

The road we are mentioning here is just one of the many roads in the city that have become hazards. Barring the GS Road and RG Baruah Road, many other roads in the city are in the same state of disrepair, with potholes and dug-up stretches.

A few months back, the Dighalipukhuri-Noonmati flyover, billed as the longest in the city, was opened to the public. After several repairs on the brand-new flyover, it is now somewhat smoother to traverse. But the road below this elevated corridor has turned into a minefield for vehicles, especially for two-wheelers, being pockmarked with potholes at several points and the road carpeting peeling off in others.

Another stretch that has become a disaster zone is the stretch of VIP Road from Six Mile to Narengi. Even some stretches on the left of the road while travelling from the Six Mile have no carpeting, as some agencies dug up the road to install pipes and left it without any repair. The point at Aamortol on this road is particularly treacherous. The road leading off from this road at Patharquarry to the Narengi Army Camp is also uneven and full of potholes. The VIP Road is one of the major roads in the city, and many use it to bypass the busy GS Road, but the condition of the road at present causes many to think twice before venturing on it.

The road from Bhetapara to Ghoramara is another road that is posing a difficulty to traverse due to a lack of maintenance. The surface of the road at several points was dug up for repair work, but the dug-up parts were not repaired, making it a headache for people on vehicles to traverse, especially two-wheeled ones.

Whenever any portion or side of a road is dug up or any stretch that gets dilapidated over time should be repaired immediately; otherwise, the holes or damaged sides go on getting bigger in size and pose a danger to anyone traversing it. The Assam PWD ignores these urgently needed repairs and exacerbates the problem. There is also no coordination worth the name between the PWD and other infrastructure agencies. Newly built roads are again dug up for installation of pipes and cables, and no repair is done after such work. The agencies concerned should prioritise proper planning and monitoring.

A few days back, Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma assured the denizens of the city that the roads in Guwahati will be repaired before the Durga Puja. It now remains to be seen whether the repairs become a reality.

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