Villagers using Assam road to commute

***One of the roads in the National Highway in a deplorable condition***

SHILLONG, FEB 10: Many villagers residing in the border villages in Ri Bhoi district are being forced to use the Assam national highway for commuting as the Meghalaya government has failed to construct road connecting border villages within the district even after land was made available by a dorbar shnong.

A memorandum submitted by the women’s wing of the Hynniewtrep Achik National Movement (HANM) to the chief minister Mukul Sangma on Tuesday sought his intervention for constructing of the connecting roads.

HANM-Women Wing- president Bety Jyrwa said in the memorandum,“People from at least 14 villages are forced to use the 9^th Mile National Highway, 37 Guwahati road due to the failure of the government to construct a road to connect with the 13^th Mile National Highway 14^th Byrnihat even after land was ready made available to the state government,”.

The 14 villages includes-Tamulkuchi, Umkhlur, Chota Killing, Killing, Umduba, Umnowe, Rupa Pani, Nongspung A, Nongspung B, Pilangkata, Iongkhuli, Umtyrnga, Chibra and Baianadi.

According to Jyrwa, people from these villages are facing hardship in using the Assam national highway especially if there are bandhs, hartals and other disturbances in Assam.

People finds it difficult to commute from the road from 13^th Mile national highway 14^th Byrnihat as it in a deplorable condition, Jyrwa informed adding as the villagers have no other alternative routes connecting the district headquarter Nongpoh, they have to use the Assam national highway.

According to Jyrwa, the village of Tamulkuchi during its meeting with the officials of the PWD Byrnihat Sub division on December 3 last year informed that they had allotted part of the land to the government for widening the road and to connect all the villages to 13^th Mile Byrnihat.

Jyrwa said that the road was constructed way back in 1996 but till now there no repair work has been done and it is lying in a deplorable state. She informed that subsequent to this, the people of the villages have also written to the Executive Engineer of the PWD Division Nongpoh, on December 8 last year requesting for black topping of the road from 13^th Mile Tamulkuchi, GS Road, National Highway 40 to Killing 0.50 kms.

Jyrwa said that they urge the state government to immediate take necessary measures to ensure that the road is constructed to border villages for the convenient of the people living in areas bordering with Assam. – By Our Reporter