SHILLONG: Former Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma has attributed the severe flooding along the Assam-Meghalaya border at Jorabat to engineering failures and blocked drainage, not hill cutting in Meghalaya as some have claimed.
After inspecting the flood-prone Jorabat-Khanapara stretch, Dr. Sangma dismissed allegations of environmental degradation and criticized authorities for political blame games instead of addressing the real issues.
He observed that key drainage culverts are completely blocked at their outlets, causing floodwaters to overflow onto the highway and endangering thousands of daily commuters.
Dr. Sangma emphasized that the responsibility falls on agencies tasked with constructing and maintaining the road network—including the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), and state Public Works Departments—for failing to uphold Supreme Court-mandated safety guidelines.
He reminded these agencies of their legal obligations to maintain hazard-free roadways.
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Highlighting the risks, Dr. Sangma noted that artificial flooding on this corridor can trap ambulances and emergency vehicles, jeopardizing critical medical care during the “Golden Hour.”
Calling for an end to blame-shifting, he urged central and state highway authorities to prioritize immediate engineering solutions, pointing to existing institutional frameworks like District and State Road Safety Committees.
He warned that Supreme Court orders and safety notifications are meaningless unless agencies take direct responsibility for clearing and redesigning the region’s drainage systems.
Dr. Sangma concluded that the Jorabat-Khanapara stretch is a vital economic corridor, and urgent action is needed to resolve its chronic flooding.
(4FrontMedia news)
