Neglected by Government, villagers repair link road by themselves

    05-Jul-2019
Newmai News Network
TURA, Jul 4: Four villages of Resubelpara in North Garo Hills (NGH) have set an example for posterity to follow after they took up the repair of a link road from the town to Krishnai in Assam after over 10 years of neglect shown towards their cause.
The move came after repeated memorandums submitted to the government over the past decade filed to repair a link road in North Garo Hills. This compelled residents to take up the cause by themselves.
On Thursday, residents of four villages- Babukona, Mongre, Khaldang and Belpara Rabha came together under an umbrella union, the Border Area Development Committee (BADC) to repair the Resubelpara-Krishnai road which is the nearest road that connects the district headquarters to neighbouring Assam.
Other than the town of Resubelpara, the road is a lifeline for most parts of the district and essential commodities like petrol, food products and materials used for construction are transported through this road.
“The road has been in a dilapidated state due to total neglect by the government. There are many potholes causing much difficulty for the drivers to navigate and many commuters have met with accidents that could have been avoided had the government been concerned about the difficulty faced by the people,” Walseng N Sangma, a former leader of the GSU, said while questioning if the government was waiting for more accidents and deaths to occur.
Due to the failure of the government to maintain the road, he said the villagers are forced to do the work on their own at their own expenses keeping in view the welfare of the general public.
“We are repairing the road with donations of several like-minded people, self help groups and well-wishers. We are doing this collectively without any assistance from the government to bring change to the society,” he said.
Sangma also drew the attention of the present Meghalaya Government and reminded that the most important road in the district was left "unrepaired" with no sanctions for its repair being made during the past ten years.