Border villages welcome govt’s assurance to construct road, says no intention to go to Bangladesh

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaJuly 5, 2020

The four villages in East Jaintia Hills district said that they have no intention to go to Bangladesh but will continue to demand for the immediate construction of a road to remove the hardships faced by the people residing along the Indo-Bangla border. 

This came after the deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong has assured that the Rymbai-Bataw-Borkhat-Sonapur road will be constructed once the Centre sanction the fund.

The district administration of East Jaintia Hills has assured to visit the border villages to ascertain the facts and circumstances. 

The assurance was made after a meeting convened by the Deputy Commissioner FM Dopht with the four villages –  Huroi, Hingaria, Lahalein and Lejri, on Friday last.

The recent statement of the four villages that they want to be part of Bangladesh had drawn the attention of the government.

The four villages had stated: “It is better for the government to give the four villages and its 5,000 plus population to Bangladesh if it is not willing to construct the road for us.”

In a statement issued on Sunday, Secretary of Huroi village Raja L Suchen said, “We only wanted to express the problems of the people and wish the government to listen to our grievances.”

“…we only wish to clarify that the people has no intention nor desire to go to Bangladesh and that we affirm our allegiance to the Government and Constitution of India, we only wished to highlight the genuine grievances of our people which has remained unresolved for many years even though we have been pursuing the matter with the Government rigorously,” he added.

Suchen on behalf of the four villages also welcomed the assurance made by the Deputy CM in-charge PWD (Roads) that the government is taking the matter seriously.

He further welcome the decision of the district administration to visit these villages. “Such a visit is very important as the people will feel hopeful and connected with the government and that the people will not feel left out. Such visits will enable the government to understand the problems of these villages and that appropriate action can be taken to resolve the same.”

Suchen however said the four villages have vowed that they will continue to pursue the matter of road construction with the government in democratic lines. 

“We hope and remain optimistic that the problem of road issue will be resolved and that the proposal for road construction be sanctioned by the Union Government,” he said.

The village secretary further informed that the four villages will soon meet the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister for their intervention into the problems of the villages which have crippled the life of the people.

Earlier, Tynsong had informed that the state government is waiting for the Centre to sanction funds for construction of the Rymbai-Bataw-Borkhat-Sonapur road connecting the villages along the Indo-Bangla border in East Jaintia Hills.

“We have already submitted the detailed project report (DPR) to the DoNER Ministry for construction of the road, which is about 60 kilometers, at an estimated cost of over Rs 100 crore. Tender will be immediately floated once the Centre sanction the fund,” the Deputy CM had said.