Barak Valley Roads Undergo Last-Minute Repairs Ahead of CM’s Visit, Sparking Public Outrage

Overnight road repair in Barak Valley has now become a new normal. Before the last Lok Sabha Election, when Home Minister Amit Shah was to visit Silcahr for his road show, top officials of the District Administration, including the DC Rohan Kumar Jha who rarely leaves his weather-controlled office was seen sitting by the road to observe the overnight repair of roads of the town. The time has come again and in an improvised drama, the filling of potholes has started again. The Chief Minister of the state, Himanta Biswa Sarma will visit Barak Valley starting tomorrow and in the wee hours before his visit, all the departments of the valley have started to sweat over it. While the PWD and NHIDCL are busy with road repairs, Cacahr Police is today on stand-by to protect these workers anticipating protests and resentment from the locals who have been suffering from this road condition for the last 4-5 months. This morning, when the temporary repair works started with stone chips and dirt on the Rongpur-Airport Road, locals came out in opposition to this move.

Later the local police had to intervene and let the repair work be carried out as this time the Chief Minister of the state was set to visit. While the Barak Valley residents have been protesting almost daily over the condition of the road, has caused no movement of the concerned officials to begin the road repairs. Monsoons, floods, and pending budgetary approval were some of the common excuses. Finally ending all their excuses, the concerned officials had to move out of their office and that too on a rainy day like this. “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining” is a quote by US President John F. Kennedy from his 1962 State of the Union Address. Had they read the great statement, they would not have to see this day.

Assam’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is scheduled to arrive in Barak tomorrow for a three-day visit. In anticipation of his arrival, the Cachar district administration has launched a pothole-filling campaign on the roads that the Chief Minister’s convoy is expected to travel. Since early morning, the administration has been repairing roads in various parts of Silchar town and other areas in the district. On the Silchar-Manipur connecting National Highway, when the public objected to the pothole-filling operation, the Cachar district administration, with police assistance, continued their work. The public has long complained about the poor condition of roads in various parts of Cachar, demanding repairs, but their pleas have largely been ignored by the administration or the concerned departments. Now, the public is questioning why the administration has suddenly started repairing the roads just because of the Chief Minister’s impending visit.

A local of the Rongpur area who opposed the road repair work this morning said, “Since the last three to four months we have been excessively suffering owing to the deplorable condition of the road during this monsoon. A few days back they (PWD Department) filled the road with red-laterite soil but that was washed away the same night along with the rainfall. We see accidents every day on this road but these accidents don’t get registered. People with two-wheelers lose their balance and fall from their vehicle, we go out to help them get up. Where was the administration all this time? Today morning also when the road was being repaired, we went to stop the work. 99 per cent soil along with few stone chips, the road is being repaired. This is purely being done to last just three days of his visit. I want to ask the CM, are we cattle plying through this road that you don’t repair this road for us and it is only being repaired for you?”

Another local has questioned the absence of former PWD Minister Parimal Suklabaidya who has now been elected as the MP of Silchar. “Our biggest mistake was to trust Parimal Suklabaidya. Since the day he was elected as the MP, he was not seen ever in Silchar.

Trinamool MP Sushmita Dev in a press statement has also urged the district administration to halt the road repair works. “For so many months now, both the town and rural area locals have been protesting and demanding road repair works in the district. But so far neither the PWD, CPWD, NHIDCL, NHAI or any department has taken up the repair works. Moments before the CM’s arrival to attend some meetings in Borjalenga and various other work, the road repair started in the Madhura Point in the Rongpur area. My request to the NHIDCL and PWD is please don’t repair the road tonight from Capital Point to Rangirkhari and further that the CM’s convoy will take. For so many months when the people have been demanding road repair, the department wasn’t involved in any such steps. All of a sudden when the CM’s arrival is on the cards, the work began. I want the CM also to know what the locals feel while travelling through the potholes”.

The temporary road repair work is ongoing on the route that the CM’s convoy will take, while police and district administration are monitoring the road to avoid any protests from the locals.