Tingzey villagers dissatisfied with PMGSY road construction

8 KM ROAD LINKING MANGSHILA TO UPPER TINGZEY LACKS PROPER DRAINS AND PROTECTIVE WALLS CONTEND VILLAGERS
MANGAN, 20 May: The residents of Upper Mangshila and Tingzey are dissatisfied with the contractor and the PWD department of the 8 km PMGSY road linking Mangshila to Upper Tingzey in North Sikkim constructed five years ago. The villagers here complained that their houses are at risk during monsoon in the absence of proper drains and walls.
The houses belonging to Dhan Bahadur Biswakarma, Kul Bahadur Biswakarma, Krishna Bahadur Biswakarma, Jangabir Biswakarma, Kharka Das Biswakarma and Laksing Limboo are at risk and there is immediate need for construction of protective wall at the road below these houses. The land belonging to Randoss Limboo has also been damaged.
“My house has already been damaged and is at further risk during monsoon as due to the lack of proper drain the flow of water will get diverted towards my house”, informed Jangabir Biswakarma while speaking to NOW! He further requested the concerned department to construct the drain as soon as possible in order to avoid further damages.
The villagers also informed that the road has not been properly constructed as vehicles cannot ply over it during monsoon because of several rough spots along the road. They further claimed that the road has mostly been maintained by villagers along with the concerned panchayats which have been engaged under MGNREGA.
“We have requested the contractor and the department several times with regard to the road but nothing has been done and now we are left with the only option to meet the Chief Minister regarding the matter”, informed Laksing Limboo. He further expressed that the villagers had given their land for the construction of the road in exchange for meager compensation in view of the development it would bring to the village but the results have not been as expected.
Apart from this, there are five steel bridges to be constructed where the materials for the said construction arrived several years ago and according to the villagers no construction has been undertaken yet while the materials lie abandoned.