Promises or media gimmick?

Chief Minister Pema Khandu during an event recently announced that the internal roads in the capital city would be improved under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Road Network Plan with streetlight facilities in all colonies. It was also announced that under the Hamara Arunachal Abhiyan (HAA) the green coverage would be improved and efforts made to beautify the Itanagar capital region. These announcements are music to the ears of the denizens of the capital region. Today the majority of the internal roads in the state capital are in a pathetic condition. Even the much touted cement concrete (CC) roads have been a big failure. Poor quality work along with rampant corruption is the main reason for the failure of the CC road projects.

The state government needs to strictly check the quality of work while implementing the CC roads. Besides improving the internal roads, the CM also announced that streetlights would be installed. This is going to be of massive help for the denizens. Besides aiding to improve visibility, it is going to help to combat crime. Many cases of snatching of purse, phone, etc, are reported from sectors and colonies. Criminals take advantage of the darkness in the sector roads to indulge in such crimes. In recent years, the green coverage of the capital region has been slowly vanishing. The rampant earth cutting and construction activities have led to loss of green coverage. Therefore, the decision to improve green coverage under the HAA is a step in the right direction. If properly implemented, it will change the face of the capital region for good. The people of the capital region will be waiting to see whether announcements like improvement of internal roads along with streetlight facilities and improvement of green coverage will be implemented in the true sense or if it will remain just a media gimmick.