Silchar-Kumbhirgram VIP Road Collapse: Residents Demand Accountability; seepage is the root cause, explains on duty PWD JE

A section of the Silchar to Kumbhirgram crucial route to Silchar Airport has been washed away following continuous heavy rainfall. Local residents expressed their grievances, highlighting that it has only been around two years since the road’s construction, yet it is already in dire condition. They also cited the condition of Shillong Road, stating that even slight rainfall disrupts the valley’s communication, hindering emergency services. The fresh caving of this road poses a threat to the flight passengers to and from the valley.

A local resident expressed that the Silchar Kumbhirgram VIP Road is the primary route to Silchar Airport and lamented the road’s poor condition despite its recent construction. He mentioned that the issue is not isolated, pointing to similar problems faced by Shillong Road and others. He explained that the rainfall leads to the disconnection of the valley, impeding communication and emergency services.

“The rainfalls result in the disconnection of the valley via both land and air, hampering communication. Emergency services face hurdles to operate. This road started to deteriorate a month or so ago, yet the PWD department didn’t do anything to repair it,” he said. “If the department had taken action initially, we might not have had to witness this situation.”

Locals blamed the negligence of the Public Works Department (PWD) for the road’s current state. Another local added, “Now, following the media attention, it looks like the people from the department have come to the road to do some superficial repairs. They are filling the damaged areas with red laterite soil to hide the damage from the public. However, even a little rainfall would wash all this soil away.”

They have demanded immediate intervention from Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to resolve the issue and ensure a permanent fix for the road before the situation worsens.

Junior Engineer Biswajit Mahanta from the PWD department present at the location explained the main reason for the damage was a seepage line beneath the road, which they encountered during the 2022 construction. The seepage line was fixed using a granular sub-base (GSB). He stated that this was the primary cause of the erosion. Mahanta who first denied any statement to our reporter later talked about the work done for the portion of this road after persuasion. “In 2022 there was a seepage line, the water from the airfield flows out through the line which is beneath this road. While we worked here in 2022, we fixed the seepage line with GSB. For three years the road was operational without any problem but since the seepage was in excess this year, that is why the problem occurred. Suddenly the road subsided one day even though we had a gradient wall also for this portion of the road, but the soil crossed that gradient layer and the road subsided”, said Biswajit Mahanta, a junior engineer of the department who built the road.

When asked why was caution not taken when they knew about the seepage problem back in 2022, the engineer said, “We did our job, we built the gradient wall for this road. The location where we are facing the issue today, we didn’t know about this location. We had known about another location nearby, and due to our measures, it has remained intact for three years. We are again following the protection measures,” Mahanta said. He added that fifteen days ago, a landslide occurred, leading them to restrict the road to one-way traffic. Regarding the repair and restoration work the engineer said, the budget has been sent by the department and they are waiting for instructions from the head office in Guwahati for the work to start. As a temporary fix, soil was being dumped which again has the chance of being washed by the rainfall.

Mahanta who puzzled the people with his bureaucratic mambo jumbo, assured them that they were awaiting instructions from higher authorities and would commence work as soon as they received any directives. “However they tell us to work, we will work,” he stated. The question remains, even after knowing about the seepage problem couldn’t there been an alternative solution?