SHILLONG:
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said that the government will finalise a programme to
provide 100-150 suspension bridges in different villages starting this year in a bid to provide basic connectivity to people.
Speaking as the chief guest at the concluding function of the Meghalaya Celebrates Environment Week on Tuesday he said, “Within this week, I plan to finalise a programme where in the next three to five years starting this year, we want to ensure that every area and village that requires the suspension bridges, we will start with 100 -150 of them this year, even if investment of Rs 150 crore or Rs 200 crore to ensure that suspension bridges are put in different villages to give the basic connectivity to people.”
He said that he came up with such a programme after looking at pictures of some villages where he saw children crossing a river in school uniform with bags on their heads and shoes in their hands as the stream level went up.
He added, “I realised that even after 50 years, there are villages that do not have this connectivity, that even a small suspension bridge is not available in those villages. Shillong is more or less fine. But a lot of rural areas don’t have that.”
Sangma suggested MGNREGA and other programmes can have a convergence to connect these villages to allow children and farmers to get across rivers.