A dilapidated road in Guwahati. Picture by Biju Boro

Guwahati, Dec. 5: Experts on road-building and maintenance are flipping through the pages of history for inspiration from the Ahom monarchs, who built Assam’s most durable roads and bridges.

These experts, gathered here for the ongoing Indian Roads Congress, are of the view that the methods employed by the erstwhile Ahom rulers to maintain the road network of that era were worthy of being adopted even today. “Coupled with modern technology, the system of old can make roads easier to maintain and strong enough to withstand the ravages of time,” engineer B.M. Goswami said in his presentation.

The pathetic condition of roads in Assam — the biggest potholes can be seen in the capital city — often causes strikes, rallies and bandhs. One of the challenges for engineers is to save roads from the annual floods, which destroy large portions of the road network. Other factors affecting the condition of roads in the state are persistent rain and seismic activity.

Goswami said in his paper that the Ahom rulers stressed on turning embankments into proper roads. “The Bar Ali, which is around 40 ft wide at the top, served as a dam that battled floods. Likewise, the Dhodar Ali and Gar Ali (in Upper Assam) were embankment roads,” Goswami said. The Ahom kings, he said, had a separate “department” for construction of roads and bridges.

Goswami quoted from a journal dating back to 1835 to drive home his point. Rutherford, the erstwhile principal assistant of central Assam, had written in the journal that “no place in India has been provided with such a splendid system of highways, which was carried uninterruptedly throughout the whole country: from Goalpara, on either banks of the river, to Sadiya.”

Echoing Goswami, another engineer from Assam said, “That some of the roads and bridges built by the Ahoms are still in use is testimony to their quality. Why can’t the same techniques be adopted today?”

It is the first time that the Indian Roads Congress is being held in Assam, though Shillong had hosted the event when it was a part of the state. Surprisingly, not a single technical paper on the Northeast has been submitted, prompting chief minister Tarun Gogoi to call for “special attention” towards the region.