Newly built road starts breaking apart
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, December 14 2017: The celebration did not last long.

People of Nambol Kongkham, Bishnupur district were literally over the moon as they saw and walked over a black-topped road for the first time in their life but the euphoria ended abruptly as the road which is still under construction has started breaking apart .

The 2 Kms long road from Nambol Keithel Thongkhong (NH 150) to Kongkham is constructed under PMGSY at the cost of Rs 82.45 lakh and it is nearing completion .

Rather than being happy, the villagers are now anguished on seeing that grasses have started growing over the bitumen layer and one can take out pieces of the bitumen layer with bare hands .

Newly built road starts breaking apart

Pictures and videos of the sub-standard road construction have been already uploaded in social media following which a team of media persons went to Nambol Kongkham and made a spot assessment today .

One Kongkham Sanjit said that people are disappointed with the utter sub-standard level of the road construction work .

Even though the work is still incomplete, grasses have started growing over the bitumen layer and chunks of the bitumen layer can be removed with bare hands, he said .

Incidentally, the village road is being black topped for the first time.

Even as the villagers appealed to the labourers as well as their supervisors to maintain certain level of quality, they did as they liked without paying any heed, Sanjit told the media team .

Pointing out that the road is connected to Nambol Naorem and Ishok, Sanjit expressed keen desire for the authority concerned to look into the matter and ensure that another layer of WBM is laid over the entire length of the road .

Kongkham Youth Club and Library president A Chingkhei said that the road construction project includes additional Rs 12.78 lakh for maintenance for a period of five years .

The road construction should have begun in January 2016 and it should have been completed by January 2017 but the same work has overshot its stipulated period by over 11 months .

After repeated appeals from the villagers, the black-topping work started last month, Chingkhei said .

"We don't have full knowledge about the guidelines of PMGSY but it is more than clear that there is complete absence of qualitative aspect", he decried .

The road connecting Nambol Kongkham to Sabal Leikai is also highly dilapidated .

Incidentally, S Kulla Women's College, L Sanoi College, two Government schools and a number of private schools are located along the same road.

The road is no longer fit for vehicular movement, he added.