Left with little options after all their appeals to authorities concerned went in vain, residents of Tashar and T Chanhong villages in Western Ukhrul took it upon themselves to repair the village road.
On Saturday, the residents banded together and repaired a 9 km stretch of the 13 km road from Lambui to Lamlang Gate passing through the two villages. The villagers braved the inclement weather as they manually crushed stones and boulders and filled the surface cavity with stones and earth. A road roller hired by the villagers, was also seen working.
According to AS Shinmi, headman of Tashar village, the road has been lying in a deplorable condition as government authorities have not repaired it since the village roadway was first built under state PWD back in 1986.
He said that from the begining the road was built without shingling and blacktopping and soon the road surface had developed cracks and the hollowed-out spaces on it had made commuting a risky affair for the locals.
He said that in 2017, during his visit to TKS Conference at Sheikhor village Works minister Bishwajit had promised to build the roadway as soon as possible but nothing has been done till date.
“For the last many years, the villagers have been repairing it by contributing money and labour but how long can we continue like this,” he said.
The village chief then urged the government to look into the hardships being faced by the locals due to the poor conditions of their only roadway and take up necessary actions to build the roadway.
Tashar village has 612 houses, while T Chanhong village has 120 houses, he added