 to the gorge killing both the occupants. ){kind=link}
SHILLONG:
Many travellers and commuters were left stranded on the road for hours after a major landslide, triggered by heavy rain, hit Rngain area on June 14 and cut off the road to Pynursla.
Three drilling machines and two JCBs have been pushed into action and efforts to clear the road is still on going.
Rngain is known as a landslide-prone area and every monsoon, landslides have become synonymous with this area. On April 14 this year, some boulders and accompanying mounds of earth rolled down and took along a car passing by on the Shillong-Dawki Road (National Highway-40) to the gorge killing both the occupants.
On June 11 and 13, minor landslides were reported at the same site, prompting local residents to rush to the scene to clear the debris.
Taking cognizance of the frequent incidents, the Federation of Khasi, Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP) Riwar Mihngi Circle today submitted a letter to the additional deputy commissioner, Pynursla Civil Sub Division, drawing the government’s attention to the resolution taken during a meeting held between them and officials from National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL), ARSS Infrastructure Projects Ltd and the government in May 2022.
According to the president of the federation, Evanfield Khonglam, during the May 2022 meeting, the company that was implementing Package II of the Shillong-Dawki Road Project, from Mylliem till Pynursla, had agreed to certain agendas raised by them.
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“We want the government to follow up on the resolution taken in May 2022 and ensure that no further loss of lives and properties due to landslides is reported,” Khonglam said.
Back then, the ARSS had assured to fence with big stones on landslide prone areas, to put a Quick Response Team in these areas to monitor the situation 24X7, among others.
However, after NHIDCL terminated ARSS’s contract, there is not much clarity on the authority or agency responsible for maintenance of the under-construction road.
According to a local contractor, Amos Wahlang, who previously used to carry out blasting and drilling work for ARSS, after the ARSS’s contract was terminated, NHIDCL had asked a few local contractors to carry out the maintenance work while the re-tendering process to engage a new implementing agency is still under way.
Wahlang, who owns a JCB, along with another resident He Khongkhlad, had been involved in clearing the debris from the road in the past couple of days.
It was informed that NHIDCL got in touch with a few local contractors and assured that they will issue a work order in a bid to help clear the road, as and when landslide occurs along this stretch.
“In the past few days when the road was hit by minor landslides due to heavy rains, I had been helping out the local volunteers to clear the road. But this is a major landslide; we don’t have enough machineries to remove the huge boulder from the road; though of course, we are yet to receive the work order,” Wahlang said.
He further stated that he is in constant touch with NHIDCL officials, who had earlier reached out to him, seeking his assistance in maintenance of this road. “They had called me in the morning regarding this landslide and I had sought for more heavy machineries. We have received three drilling machines and JCBs. Efforts are under way to clear the road, with the help of the police,” he added.