Meghalaya: Flood management in West Garo Hills goes wrong

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TURA | JULY 25, 2020:

Incessant rains over the past few weeks have triggered floods and landslides in several parts of Meghalaya, cutting off connectivity in some areas of the state.

The latest report was that another bridge on the Selsella – Kalchengpara – Dadenggre road in West Garo Hills was washed away three days ago and left many residents with the limited scope of travel for necessities.

The section of the road that was washed away three days ago was in the village of Kalchengre, very close to the village of Rongram, where most of the affected villages came for marketing weekly.

The damaged section of the road, which also had a bridge falls on the Dallanga River with at least 9 villages being affected. The villages affected have been identified as Rongbakgre, Kalchengre, Danang Songma, Danang Bisagre, Kalakgre, Rongmagre among others.

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The area falls under the Dadenggre constituency which is represented by power minister, James Sangma.

"For the past two months, the road has been un-passable. The section of the PWD road had a culvert and has been under construction since 2019. The subway culvert was washed away due to rain on Jul 20. Further, the section of the road has been broken by heavy rains with craters appearing almost in every part," said a resident, Pilath Marak.

"This road serves a huge number of people who used it to go to Rongram for their daily needs. It is very important for the student community, as well as admissions to colleges and higher secondary schools, which are currently underway. The road is in immediate need of repair and we pray to the authorities to understand our plight," he added.

Meanwhile, the matter of the road was raised to the Deputy Commissioner of WGH, Ram Singh who has promised to look into the matter at the earliest.