SILCHAR, Nov 15 � At a time when all eyes are set on the completion of the much-awaited broad gauge project, the dilapidated condition of the NH-6 is causing great inconvenience to passengers travelling on the Silchar-Guwahati route.
As part of the mega block, train services have been withdrawn to expedite the gauge conversion works. This has shifted all the traffic to the roadway. As a result of the additional load of approximately 3,000 tonnes per day, the condition of the road has worsened.
Against this backdrop, the Nagarik Swartha Raksha Sangram Parishad, a local citizens� forum, has submitted a memorandum to Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, drawing his attention towards the plight of the people here. It said that if the condition of the road does not improve, it will collapse again during the coming monsoon.
Haridas Dutta, general secretary of the Parishad, said that the transfer of power to construct, repair and maintain the NH-6 from the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to Meghalaya resulted in the neglect of the road from 2011 to 2013. After the responsibility was relinquished by the BRO in 2013, the Assam portion of the NH-6 from Badarpur to Malidor is being maintained by the PWD Roads, NH Division, Assam and the Meghalaya portion of the NH-6 from Malidor to Jowai is being taken care of by the PWD Roads, NH Division, Meghalaya.
�Neither the Assam Government, nor the Meghalaya Government has taken any interest to repair the road which is the lifeline for more than one crore people,� Dutta said. He added that the condition of the road has worsened, affecting Tansen Basti in Meghalaya, since October 25 this year.
