The Meghalaya High Court has asked the State government to convene a meeting with the representatives of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the local administration to address the particular problems pertaining to the Jowai-Ratacherra stretch of National Highway-6.
The division bench of the High Court passed the order today following a report filed by the NHAI which indicated certain man-made problems to the highway which ought to be addressed by the State.
According to the NHAI report, car wash outlets have sprung up along the State and national highways in the State without any drainage system or any parameters apparently being put in place in such regard. As a result, the water from such car wash places run down the highways or form puddles at places causing additional damage than what the monsoon rains may cause.
The NHAI report also pointed out to the haphazard laying of pipelines along the side of the Jowai to Ratacheera stretch which has resulted in water leakage in several places which add to the woes of accumulated water and erosion of the blacktop.
As far as the Jowai by-pass is concerned, the State PWD (Roads) filed a status report before the court along with photographs of the repair work of the pavements being undertaken. According to the report, the same contractor is undertaking the repair work and the same would be completed within a reasonable time.
“It is hoped that the balance repair work is completed within this month and extra care is taken to undertake patchwork, wherever necessary, for the remainder of the monsoon season to ensure that the colossal waste of vehicles needing to travel the extra 30 km or so by avoiding the by-pass is no longer necessary,” the High Court said.
