UDP on road and trade

SHILLONG, MARCH 15: The United Democratic Party (UDP) has demanded the opening up of more trade routes along the border with Bangladesh with proper road connectivity to improve the lot of the people living in border villages.

UDP president Donkupar Roy said creating infrastructure like better road connectivity will boost trade in the border villages. “The government needs to link borders with good roads. This is not case now”, he said while participating in the debate of the governor’s address in the Assembly on Friday.

Citing the examples limestone-rich Nongjri and Umniuh villages, which are just 200 meters off the international border, Roy said while there is a good road right up to 300 metres short of border on the other side, there was no road at all on this side. Roy represents the border area of Shella, which has limestone mines owned by the Lafarge cement company. Lafarge sources raw materials for its cement plant in Chattak in Bangladesh from these mines.

Bangladesh, he said, is a growing economy which imports clinkers for their cement plants from south east Asian countries, but they can import the same from Meghalaya only if the roads were good.

Roy said the abysmal condition of the roads in the state’s hinterland was one of the main reasons responsible for the defeat of the many MLAs in the recent Assembly elections.

Bad roads will also adversely impact the tourism sector, he said, while calling for an integrated approach to improve the road network that connects different places of tourist interest. He also advised the tourism department not to confine itself to constructing lodges and tourists spots, but also pay equal attention to the construction and maintenance of roads leading to the tourist spots.

Taking a dig at chief minister Mukul Sangma, the leader of opposition said the condition of roads throughout the state was bad except in Ampati, which is the chief minister’s constituency. On a more serious note, he said since bitumen roads do not last in southern slopes of the state which receive heavy rainfall, a pilot project to construct RCC roads must be initiated to see if they are more durable. (By Our Reporter)