SHILLONG:
The Division Bench of the High Court of Meghalaya has taken cognizance of the poor road conditions in the state, and rejected the notion of attributing the deplorable conditions of the road to the rains.
Hearing a PIL August 21, the Court stated that the condition of roads in the State is not up to the mark and the standard excuse is the heavy rains, and that huge maintenance costs are incurred and which is why maintenance works remain suspended during the period of heavy rains.
The Court stated, “It has been repeated in several orders that since this is one of the wettest places on the earth, extra care has to be taken while building roads and the mix of substance has to be chosen, taking into account the heavy rains that the roads will require to endure. It is not acceptable that the excuse of rains is proffered to justify the poor condition of roads.”
The Court is hopeful that the PWD (Roads) sits up and takes notice and keeps all the roads in good repair so as to enable free flow of traffic even during the monsoons.
On the other hand, a report has been filed by the Executive Engineer, PWD (Roads), Tura, indicating the present status of the AMPT Road.
At paragraph nine of the report, the Executive Engineer has referred to three contractors having been engaged for the portion of 33rd to 41st km of the AMPT Road and its maintenance.
However, the petitioner, who is particularly affected by the poor condition of such stretches, says that the maintenance work is neither timely nor is it regular.
As far as the present matter pertaining to the AMPT Road is concerned, it will appear six weeks hence when a further status report should be filed.
The matter is listed on October 3, 2023.