Potholes around Shillong city and across the state have become a nuisance and real hazard to all, especially those in need of critical medical attention and pregnant mothers.
The potholes not only damage vehicles but the larger ones can cause inconveniences and result in injuries to drivers and passengers and they do not spare pedestrians either, as cars will often encroach on the space of those walking on the side of the road to get around a pothole.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson, Gregory F Shullai, never one to shy away from speaking on various issues, also agreed that the words most heard these days in Shillong are “traffic” and “potholes”.
“Whilst everyone in town is in pursuit of power, and wealth as a means of power, our pursuit of other things has left us not knowing what to do about our roads,” he told Highland Post. “Just look at the potholes along the Pynthorumkhrah road and the entire stretch of road from Fourth Furlong to Demseiniong. We have become prisoners of the pursuits we follow and have forgotten the basic amenities that promote every pursuit we go after. And the people entrusted with getting and keeping the roads shipshape are no less in pursuit of the same as everybody else and in this endeavour they have forgotten their basic job…that’s the culture that the people of Shillong have fallen into.”
Even so, it would be wrong not to mention the efforts that are being made to restore our roads, he said.
“What one can see from what is going on along the road at Phan Nonglait Park (formerly Lady Hydari Park) is that the barest of toppings (tar and sand) is being applied, which I fear will be worn off rapidly, by January most likely, by speeding cars and their massive tyres,” Shullai added. “By treating the patient (our roads) tenderly we are literally humouring the efforts we put in and hoping that it will shut up the conscientious critics we have among us. We are declaring in a most obscure way ‘let us be insulted, while we are insultable’. Wealth and ego are like a goitre, very frequent and notable among employees of some departments.”
