Often the reason given by engineers and contractors is that roads in Meghalaya degenerate faster because of heavy rains. But the counter-question is: Don't engineering schools teach how roads should be built in areas of heavy rainfall? In 2023 the Meghalaya High Court stated that heavy rainfall cannot be used as a permanent excuse for bad roads; in one of the wettest places on earth, roads must be designed with materials and construction methods capable of enduring those conditions. Along the highways, rainwater flows through the middle of the road, causing erosion. This happens because there is no drainage or the drains are clogged due to being shallow. Across Shillong city there is a stark absence of storm drains. But where drains exist, they are blocked by garbage, allowing rainwater to enter the layers beneath the bitumen. Once the base is saturated the road begins to crack, sink and develop potholes. Also, in Meghalaya trucks carry loads beyond the permitted capacity and use narrow streets passing through residential areas to make a quick entry and exit by bypassing the highway.
A PWD environmental assessment for a Meghalaya road project specifically noted that poor drainage was seriously deteriorating the road surface, compounded by landslides during the monsoon. Road building is a specialised activity because the geology is complex and roads pass through steep slopes, unstable soil, landslide-prone areas, high-rainfall zones, areas with loose rock and soil. But at the root of poor road construction is the lack of accountability from the State Public Works Department (PWD) and the minister-engineer- contractor nexus. There is no civil society to take on the challenging task of auditing newly constructed roads.The CAG documented one case where a road was constructed through unstable terrain without adequate geological and soil investigation. Heavy rain then caused landslides and sections of the road, including culverts were washed away. This is just one example. There are hundreds of such roads that have collapsed within months of construction. Just because a road is black-topped does not mean it is built to last. In fact, it's almost as if the roads are poorly built to ensure a steady flow of funds towards repair work.
Roads in Meghalaya and Shillong city are built with inadequate thickness, poor-quality aggregates, improper compaction, insufficient base layers, poor bonding between layers, substandard drainage and inadequate slope protection etc. Quality control is weak and the defects become visible after rain and traffic expose them. The reason for all this is that no engineer in charge has ever been held accountable for poor quality roads and no contractor has ever been publicly blacklisted.On highways trucks carrying coal and limestone are overloaded. This puts pressure on roads that were not designed for such load and traffic intensity. Roads need continuous maintenance. Small cracks must be sealed early. Drains must be cleaned before the monsoon. Potholes must be repaired before water enters the road base. But if contractors are paid for only for completing construction and there is weak enforcement of defect-liability and maintenance obligations, there may be little incentive to ensure long-term durability.