Baghmara: For the lakhs of residents from the district of South Garo Hills (SGH), the National Highway (NH) 62 is a lifeline that has continued to haunt them despite decades of the formation of the district.
The 145 km NH begins from the town of Dudhnoi in Assam before snaking through the South Garo Hills and ending at Karongre near Dalu in West Garo Hills.
Beginning from Dudhnoi up to Jadi South Garo Hills, the road is almost perfect, and the mesmerising view of nature in Garo Hills will soothe the eyes although deforestation has made things less agreeable.
Once you cross Jadi, the nightmare begins and continues for over 80 km despite passing through some of the most beautiful sights in Meghalaya.
You will care less for the sights than to protect your car from all the rigmarole it will go through. The torrential rainfall that hit the district recently has made matters worse. During the continuous rains that followed for about a week, the tottering road infrastructure lost many road sections and timber bridges and connectivity were almost blocked for close to a month. Relief had to be air-dropped in quite a few places in the district as it remained cut off from the rest of the state.
While connectivity has been restored, including the timber bridge at Karukol, but the situation for commuters has worsened. There has been no respite with coal trucks moving through the road.
Earlier, the NH -62 was famous for its more than 18 numbers of rickety timber bridges. These bridges have been replaced in most places though some still exist. These were a permanent fixture through the route since the road’s inception. Interestingly, it took almost a decade to upgrade to more sturdy and modern RCC bridges.
The route connects Dudhnoi and Rongjeng in East Garo Hills, Nongalbibra, Siju, Baghmara, Sibbari, and Gasuapara before ending at Karongre in West Garo Hills.
“It is torture for most of us who travel to far-off places. It takes more than 4 hours for us to reach Tura, which is only about 115 km away. Getting to Dudhnoi takes a similar amount of time despite more than half the route being in excellent condition. We have made multiple representations to road officials of the state PWD to ensure the road was made properly, but that has made no headway. We still continue to suffer,” said activist, Greneth Sangma in Baghmara, the district headquarter of SGH.
“Repairs on the road have been extremely intermittent due to which travel has become hazardous and tiring. Moreover, the lesser said about the quality of repairs is best left unspoken. We just wish someone takes up the issue at the earliest so that people can heave a collective sigh of relief,” felt Sibbari resident Tengrak Sangma.
Despite the border road being narrower, most people while going to Tura or Dalu use the route. However, this alternative road only remains open until 5 PM due to its proximity to Bangladesh and the need for the BSF men to monitor movement.
There however could be a silver lining for the people of SGH as, according to district officials, the sanction of a new road is likely soon.
“Survey on the road has been completed and we are almost at 90% in land acquisition. The road construction will be handled by the Central PWD and the NHIDCL. However, we are awaiting sanction from MoRTH before the tendering process begins. Hopefully, that will be soon,” informed deputy commissioner Shivansh Awasthi.
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For the people of the district, however, relief is the first thing they want.
“We want relief from the dust that we have to inhale on a daily basis, the bone-jarring experience that we face daily and the trauma that people with medical issues face. We have been hearing of a new road being sanctioned for the past few decades but nothing has borne fruit yet. We have suffered through almost 3 decades on the same road. We will only believe once the entire road project is sanctioned, tendered and announced,” added another Baghmara resident, DP Marak.
Until that happens, the people will continue to suffer like they have been conditioned to without a word of complaint. For them, it has become their fate.
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