Meghalaya bad roads: Locals scrape off bitumen road with bare hands

A private construction company based in Guwahati has come under scrutiny for constructing a substandard road under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). Residents have reported that the quality of the road is so poor that they could scrape off the top bitumen layer with their bare hands.

The road is a 3 km stretch between the villages of Gomaijhora and Malijhora, about 5 km from the town of Phulbari. As per inputs, the road was constructed just couple of days back.

Resident and social activist, Ahinur Islam, expressed his dismay, and said, “The road had enough time to set (24 hours) as no one used it during that time. When we came this morning to check the road’s condition, we were surprised to see the extremely poor quality. We didn’t even need any tools to dig it up. It came apart with just our bare hands.”
People alleged use of low-quality stones, along with insufficient application of bitumen in the top layer for the poor quality of the road.

The Gomaijhora Youth Club (GYC) has complained to the Sub-Divisional Officer – Civil of Dadenggre, urging intervention.

Out of the 3 kilometres of road between the two villages, only 1 kilometre was allocated to the contractor responsible for the construction. Residents have raised questions about why the Public Works Department (PWD) did not supervise the construction work.

Another resident asked, “Two PWD employees were at the construction site, so it was their duty to oversee the quality of work being undertaken. Why did they allow such shoddy work to proceed when they were aware of its poor quality? From what is evident, they too are a part of the problem.”

Locals have shared videos of the road to the deputy commissioner of West Garo Hills (WGH) and is waiting for some response.

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