SHILLONG: The Shillong-Nongstoin-Tura road has certainly improved the connectivity between Khasi and Garo Hills to a great extent but more is needed to be done to make travelling on the road a pleasant experience.
A visit to the road by a group of journalists reveals that the road quality is satisfactory and vehicles can pick up speed on many stretches. However, the biggest setback is the fact that the road has too many sharp bends, especially between Nongstoin and Shallang.
In the past, there were demands to correct the alignment of the road as it has too many curves and speeding leads to accidents.
Earlier this year, even opposition leaders from West Khasi Hills had cornered the state government in the Assembly over poor alignment and frequent accidents on the newly constructed Shillong-Nongstoin-Tura Road.
The road is definitely a boon for the state but the number of people using the road to go to Garo Hills and vice vera is still less.
Facilities like petrol pumps, garage and eateries are absent on the stretch from Nongstoin to Shallang.
It was also seen that there were some stretches which are prone to landslides.
Regular commuters said the road reduces travelling time to Williamnagar and Tura by one-two hours.
Meanwhile, it was also seen that the project is more or less complete except in some areas where work is going on.
The stretch of the 264.3 km Shillong-Nongstoin-Tura starts from Lad Mawreng in East Khasi Hills District and ends at Jengal in West Garo Hills. The work started in 2011 and the target date for completion was in March 2014, but the project was delayed due to land hurdles.
The project is being implemented by BSC-C&C JV, a Hyderabad-based company. The road is of great benefit for people to travel across both the regions especially at a time when agitations are called in Assam and hence the movement of people travelling from Shillong to Garo Hills is affected.
