TURA, Oct 03: Garo social organization A’chik Holistic Awakening Movement (AHAM) central body has expressed shock over Meghalaya Government’s delay to kickstart a critical road project worth multi-crore rupees to connect Garo Hills coal route from Rongjeng-Baghmara- Dalu towards Dudhnoi in Assam even though the central project was announced for implementation over one year ago.

They have dashed off a strong letter to chief minister Conrad K Sangma seeking answers.

They said that AHAM and the people of Garo Hills have been deeply concerned and frustrated by the project delay since it was announced as a major boost to improve the region’s infrastructure and boost the economy.

“Instead, the continuous delays have caused inconvenience, safety hazards, fatal medical emergencies and untold economic loss to the people and the businesses of our region,” mentioned AHAM central executive board president Georgeprince Ch Momin.

Revealing details, AHAM said that a public interest litigation was filed on the project and it revealed that the detailed project report or DPR was still kept under review by the Meghalaya government for an entire year, for reasons best known to it.

The project, once initiated and completed, is expected to make a huge boost to the economy of the Garo Hills as the new aligned route will pass through the coal rich belt of South Garo Hills.

The road will connect coal export from Garo Hills through Dudhnoi in Assam for domestic demand and as well as Gasuapara land customs point and Dalu land customs point for export to Bangladesh.

AHAM said that it is worried that the delay will compound matters further because the present narrow road will see competition between coal trucks and civilians vying for that space and would lead to catastrophic situations such as accidents and loss of lives.

Already, a major portion of the route, Siju-Baghmara-Gasuapara to Dalu in West Garo Hills has been turned into a nightmare for travelers who commute on it, and medical fatalities have occurred in the past due to delay in reaching hospitals or the bad condition of the road.

AHAM is also raising environmental concerns over the road expansion which would lead to felling of trees, removal of entire strips of hills or hillocks and soil degradation, which is why it wants the government to involve local NGOs during implementation of the project.

It also wants the government to come clean on the cost overruns of the project mentioning that the delay in the execution of the project has already resulted in significant cost overruns which the people of the state will have to bear.

AHAM has also demanded that the state government take steps to ensure there are improved communication strategies to keep the community informed about project updates and milestones.

Read: South West Garo Hills marks Gandhi Jayanti with “Swacchta he Seva” Run

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