Villagers of Hingaria, Huroi, Lahalein and Lejri in the international border of East Jaiñtia Hills are miffed over the neglect by the North Eastern Council (NEC) to their repeated plea for construction of a road that will connect to their area.
It may be noted that the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Sonapur-Borkhat road project proposed under North Eastern Road Sector Development Scheme (NERSDS) has been submitted way from 2008-09 and has finally been forwarded to the MDoNER for approval but till date the same is yet to be approved for reason best known to the NEC and DONER Ministry.
The State government vide its letter dated March 3, 2021 signed by the Chief Secretary has issued an undertaking, which certifies that the Government of Meghalaya undertakes to fund the balance portion of Rs. 88.33 crore (Phase-II) and to complete the whole project in case NERSDS is not continued during the 15th Finance Commission period.
In the same letter a request has been made to NEC to consider sanctioning the amount of Rs. 62.20 crore for the first phase of the road project at the earliest. This matter has been recorded in the Meghalaya High Court order dated April 20, 2021.
However, even after the State government has given such an undertaking, the NEC did not recommend the Sonapur-Borkhat road project for approval to the DONER Ministry which is to be accounted for from the balance outlay of 2020-2021.
What angers the villagers the most is the fact that NEC has instead recommended a project in the state of Nagaland which the DPR has submitted only on December 30, 2020 and consequent to this recommendation the DONER Ministry has approved and sanctioned the project from Nagaland in March 2021.
“Inspite of the road’s strategic location and its importance for the livelihood of the people, the NEC has ignored our request. This road project has been proposed since a very long time but even then the NEC officials did not deem it fit for recommendation,” said Raja L Suchen, Secretary Huroi village and Joint Action Committe of the Dorbar Shnong of Hingaria, Huroi, Lahalein and Lejri.
The NEC as per information received has sent again the DPR for the Sonapur-Borkhat road project on May 4, 2021 for consideration of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) of DONER Ministry as and when the NERSDS is approved by the 15th Finance Commission.
However, till date no progress has been made on this matter. The lack of political will has delayed the approval of this road project for a very long time much to the disadvantage of the rural population.
“How many more lives does the government want to see before it approves the road? All these years the people have only been given false assurance by the government even after the protest held in Khliehriat,” Suchen said.
The villagers have again appealed to the Government of Meghalaya, NEC and DONER Ministry to see and work out that the much delayed project of Sonapur-Borkhat road is approved as soon as possible without looking for any political consideration.
“The people deserve the road and hence should be sanctioned as priority. Any further delay in approving the road project will only invite agitation from the people of the border villages. We will lead a much larger and bigger protest against the government and even NEC if the request is not met within a reasonable period of time. We will not shy away even to protest before the Meghalaya Secretariat and NEC office, if need be,” Suchen added.
