SHILLONG;
The Division Bench of the Meghalaya High Court comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice W Diengdoh on Thursday observed that proper road is to be constructed between Jakopgre and Kakwa Duragre via Rongrekgre, a distance about 7.70 km, in East Garo Hills.
The court pointed out that the grievance of the petitioner, who is a resident of Jakopgre, is that there is no proper road between Chiminmingre and Kakwa Duragre and hundreds of villagers in the area face daily difficulties in commuting.
“The real need is for proper road being constructed between Jakopgre and Kakwa Duragre via Rongrekgre, a distance is about 7.70 km.
According to the petitioner, the residents in villages in and around Kakwa Duragre who need to regularly come to Jakopgre or Cheminmingre have only a kutcha road and at least one section where a river has to be crossed.
The petitioner submits that during the rainy season, it is dangerous to try and cross the river and the condition of the existing kutcha road deteriorates with falling rain,” the court observed.
In this connection, the court has requested the state to approach the relevant Union ministry for an in-principle sanction for the construction of a proper road, the absence of which creates a lot of suffering to the local people.
“Accordingly, the State is requested to approach the relevant Union Ministry for an in-principle sanction for the construction of such road, the absence of which creates a lot of suffering to the local people. In the event the Union declines to release funds for such purpose, the Union may be impleaded and the reasons for declining the proposal may be ascertained. In the event and in-principle approval is obtained, an abstract of costs should be prepared within two weeks and submitted, so that the work in such regard can be commenced at the earliest and without undue delay,” the court said.
The court observed that a road has been recently constructed upon due sanction being obtained covering approximately 3.674 km between Chiminmingre and Kakwa Songgitcham, but a section is incomplete since there ought to be a bridge across a river, but no bridge has been built and the state says that no sanction for such bridge was accorded.
The state submitted that the funds for such roads are sanctioned and provided by the Centre through the Ministry of Rural Development.
The court stated, “The State refers to an abstract of the expenses required for the construction of such roads that was submitted in 2018 but it was returned by the office of the Chief Engineer, PWD (Roads) to the Executive Engineer, PWD (Roads) at Williamnagar on the ground that the scheme could not be processed due to financial constraints.”
The matter is listed on June 3, 2022.