Shillong, July 1: Angered and frustrated with both the State and Central Governments for not constructing a viable road despite several petitions, the residents of four villages along the Indo-Bangladesh border in the East Jaiñtia Hills region of Meghalaya have decided to seek assistance from the Government of the neighbouring country to come to their rescue.
“The people are frustrated and tired. Recently, public meetings have been held in the villages to discuss our course of action, given the fact that the government is not serious enough to build the road for us. Through the meeting, it has been unanimously decided that, the village dorbar and its more than 5000 plus population have decided that it is better for the Government to give the four villages and its 5000 plus population to Bangladesh if the Government is not willing to construct the road for us. The people have also decided that the four villages will write to the Government of Bangladesh to request for construction of the road for us since the Government of India and Government of Meghalaya have failed to understand our problems,†a press statement jointly issued by representatives of the villages read.
“Prima facie it is clear that the lives of the border population do not matter at all to the Government and we are being used just for votes. If the government really considers us as Indians and is serious about our problems, the Government should immediately address the road problem and interim measures should be taken up to ease the problem, failing which the people will have no choice but to take extreme steps,†the statement signed by Kynjaimon Amse, spokesperson of the four villages, Raja L Suchen, secretary Huroi Village and Garnes Talang, secretary, Hingaria Village said.
Highlighting the “pathetic and deplorable condition†of the Rymbai- Bataw-Borkhat-Sonapur Road, the statement narrated as to how the bad condition of the road has affected the livelihood of the 5000 plus population who live in Hingaria, Huroi, Lahalein and Lejri villages along the Indo-Bangla border.
The statement said that the very existence of the people is threatened because of the economic and developmental issues which the villages face, and cited that there was no mobile connectivity, no proper medical facilities, which have “crippled the life of the peopleâ€.
“It has come to a point where the people have to rely on Bangladesh for their survival for the Government is least interested in these border villages. The world may be facing lockdown for the first time but the people of the above stated border villages have been in lockdown since their existence as they are cut off without road and communication and no one knows what is going on in these villages,†the statement pointed out.
“There have been instances where patients lost their lives because they did not reach the hospital on time. There are also reports that the people cross the border to reach Bangladesh for medical treatment. The farmers in the villages are the worst sufferers as they have to shed huge amount of money just for transporting the products to the nearest market and sometimes due to the bad condition of the road they have to sell their products at a very nominal rate to Bangladeshi traders,†the statement said.
“Almost all the problems of the people in the villages are linked to the bad condition of the road, and we believe that unless the road problem is solved there can be no development and growth in the villages,†it ieterated.
“Over the last few years we have been moving from pillar to post to draw the attention of the Government to construct and build the road for us, however the Government has least interest. We have been writing to all Government functionaries right from the Deputy Commissioner to the Chief Minister and Governor, but all we got was false promise. We have also been writing to the PMO, Home Ministry, NITI Aayog, Finance Ministry, North Eastern Council (NEC) and many other offices of the Union Government for intervention. However, even they are not interested to see to our needs,†the joint statement informed.
“Even after the matter has taken up by the High Court of Meghalaya and NHRC, the governments at both levels have been reluctant to the needs of the people. The proposal worth Rs. 123 crore for construction of the road has been lying with the DoNER (Development of North Eastern Region) Ministry since April 2019. However, till date the Ministry has not even discussed the proposal, hence the same is not approved,†the statement said.
“We have been writing to all concerned for speedy approval of the proposal, but again no response and as such, the pain and suffering of the people continues. The CM and Deputy CM, when we met them had assured that the project will be approved; however all the assurances have shown no result. It only seems that the State Government is not serious about the road and did not take up the matter with the DoNER Ministry for consideration,†the statement alleged.
“The people of the border villages are very angry and disappointed with the step-motherly attitude of the Government towards the 5000 plus population. The Government has failed to understand the problems and suffering of the people. The absence of a proper road has in fact violated the very Fundamental Right to Life of the people and also the basic Human Rights. The present condition of the road is the root cause of all the problems and unless the road is constructed the lives of the people will be just like mere animal existence. The people are being remembered just during elections and not after that,†the statement rued.