Unsafe Highways

Assam may boast of the rapid expansion of four lane national highways in the past few years, which is vital for accelerating the pace of economic development. But a reality check will reveal that not all is well with the National Highway network in Assam and the Northeastern region, especially in terms of passenger safety. While the foundation for four-lane national highways was laid way back during the first NDA government at the centre, which was headed by none other than Atal Bihari Vajpayee, while most states in mainland India today can take pride in four-lane (and in some cases, six-lane) national highways, not even one stretch of the national highways in Assam can be described as complete. Even those stretches for which people have to pay a toll are full of potholes and defective or uneven joints. Additionally, while modern-day national highways are required to have adequate foliage cover on both sides, apart from toilet blocks, first-aid facilities, and highway patrol vehicles, people have been compelled to pay tolls at specific points despite the absence of all these facilities. That elected representatives have also failed to highlight the non-completion of highway construction work for years, not to speak of demanding the above-mentioned facilities on behalf of the people they represent in the State Assembly and Parliament. The Jorhat-Sivasagar stretch is the most glaring example of how central government agencies like NHIDCL and NHAI, which are entrusted with the task of construction and management of national highways, function and how elected representatives remain unconcerned about the woes of the people who elected them. What is happening as a result of this is that the issue of safety on national highways is a call to be taken by none other than the Prime Minister himself to make things really happen. Highways across Assam have become nobody’s concern. As was pointed out in the lead page-one story of this newspaper in its Saturday edition, warning signs on national highways, especially those under construction, are absolutely necessary for the safety of travelers. But, in Assam, the government agencies concerned and the construction companies have chosen to neglect to put up such signs on the National Highways, which in turn has been posing a threat to the lives of travelers. As a result, accidents frequently occur on the national highways in the state. In many places where construction continues to go on, apparently without any deadline or sense of urgency, diversion signs are simply non-existent. It probably requires a call to be taken by none other than the Prime Minister himself to make things really happen.