The Meghalaya government is overstating how much of a particular road in Garo Hills is complete, with the Nokrek Area Development Committee (NADC) disputing the administration’s figure of 97 per cent.
According to the NADC, only around 50 per cent of the 5.203km road between Rongsigre and Durabanda in South Garo Hills is really complete.
A joint inspection was conducted with officials and villagers on December 19. It found that 2.667km of the road is ready, with 2.536km still to go.
However, in a reply to a Right to Information (RTI) request, the Public Works Department (PWD) stated that 97 per cent of the work has been completed and Rs 6.9012 crore of the budgeted Rs 7.9655 crore, which is more than 86 per cent, has been incurred as expenditure.
Dubbing this a scam, the NADC, villagers and Nokmas have strongly disagreed with the government’s figure and demanded strict action against the person responsible.
The NADC named Bikash Harlaka, Gaurav Harlaka, MD Construction and Ram Gopal Harlaka as the contractors who were allocated the project.
The project’s work order was dated January 4, 2018 and the road was meant to be ready in 12 months but even nearly six years on only half of it is ready, the NADC said.
It went on to claim that, instead of metalling and blacktopping the road, the contractors have only laid blocks on top of it. They have also only completed one bridge at Rongsigre, while there are no bridges to cross the Gopgija and Imbisi Rivers along the route.
