Shillong, Sep 29: The Meghalaya High Court on Tuesday termed as “damning” the report of hill expert D. Gharpure on the Shillong-Dawki Road construction.
Hearing a PIL on the under-construction road, a division bench of Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh said most slope cutting works were creating hazardous conditions due to inadequate Right of Way provision and unattended slope stability.
Quoting the expert, the bench said a “very lame and non-engineering explanation” that “similar cut has worked somewhere else” was being used to justify steep cuts. The report warned that with large variation in geology, extreme cut heights, poor drainage and non-adherence to top-down cutting, un-engineered cuts would lead to catastrophic damage, loss of life and manifold cost escalation.
The expert recommended vulnerability assessment and a detailed DPR for vulnerable locations by expert agencies.
The bench directed NHIDCL and NHAI to henceforth obtain the hill expert’s report and IIT Guwahati report before building roads in Meghalaya’s hilly areas, and to carry out scientific study to minimise tree cutting.
Deputy Solicitor General Dr N. Mozika, appearing for NHIDCL, said IIT Guwahati has submitted a preliminary vulnerability assessment and will hold a joint site inspection from September 28 to 30 to finalise critical locations and timelines for remedial measures.
On damage to structures during construction, the court was informed that a joint inspection on August 27 had revised compensation to Rs 90.84 lakh from Rs 1.70 crore. The amount will be deposited soon for repair and construction of a school and other structures, the bench said.
NHIDCL also informed that the Shillong-Dawki Road is now operational 24×7 and landslide-hit stretches have been repaired.
The court ordered its direction to be forwarded to central and state authorities to ensure scientific studies are done before hill cutting for road projects.
