Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma today said that the government has constructed number of roads across the state through externally aided projects and other schemes, more than the number of roads constructed in previous 20 years.
Sangma was speaking at a function held at Garobadha Higher Secondary School today to inaugurate a series of projects in Garo Hills.
According to a document titled “Promises Delivered” released to highlight the achievements of the NPP led government, 2,234 kms of rural roads were constructed during 2018-22 and over 600 habitations have been connected with main roads and district headquarters through rural roads to improve connectivity.
“Through these statistics, one can learn how much this government prioritizes construction of roads and maximum budget from Central schemes and externally aided funds have been earmarked for construction of roads”, he said.
“Sectors like health, business, tourism, etc benefitted immensely out of these road constructions and I thank the engineers, officials of the department and contractors concerned for completing these roads on time,” he added.
The Chief Minister at the function inaugurated the Water Treatment Plant of Greater Garobadha Water Supply Scheme of PHE department and Periodic Renewal of AMPT Road (Portion 103rd km-124th km) under Systematic Maintenance and Upgradatation of 11 km Garobadha-Selsella-Balachanda Road including 3 km AMPT road to intermediate lane.
Stating that Garobadha-Selsella road is as important as Garobadha-Tura road as lifeline of the people of the area, he said that even as Meghalaya attained 50 years of statehood, these roads were neglected for a very long time, adding that his government have ensured completion of these roads to fulfill the aspirations of the people.
He also observed that another major problem of the area was shortage of drinking water. “Less than one percent of households, only about 4500 households, in Meghalaya had tap water connection. Today, Meghalaya is one of the best performing states in tap water connection, through schemes like JJM and other state schemes. Today about 3 lakh households in the state have functional tap water connections in their houses”, he said.
According to the department officials, the Garobadha water supply scheme will benefit 96 villages and 8995 households under Rongram, Selsella, Betasing and Rerapara C&RD blocks.
The Chief Minister also inspected the Water Treatment Plant of Greater Garobadha WSS at Megonggre village on his way to Selsella.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone for construction of multi-facility hall of Manchak Integrated Village Cooperative Society (IVCS) at Dengnakpara under Rerapara C&RD Block of South West Garo Hills district and announced sanctioned of Rs 60 lakh for construction of the hall and another Rs.20 lakh for taking up Ramie cultivation in the area under the guidance of Dr. Merril Sangma, former official of the Agriculture department.
