Wake up Guwahati Smart City Limited: Letters to the Editor

Wake up Guwahati Smart City Limited

Guwahati being the gateway to the Northeast due to its strategic location has a beautiful landscape with many hills and the mighty Brahmaputra. To deal with the rapid urbanization caused by population influx, a master plan for Guwahati had been prepared by GMDA for implementation with perspective 2025 under the Smart City Project and accordingly The Guwahati Smart City Limited had been formed. The main objectives of the plan are to manage and protect the natural environment, to establish a modern urban transport/transit system and to develop the existing physical infrastructures to provide water supply to 100 per cent households with proper sewerage connection and solid waste management etc.

As per plan all these objectives are to be achieved by 2025. However, considering the present status of work under Smart City Project, all these objectives seem to be a distant dream only. As on date only 30 per cent of the water supply requirement is being fulfilled. The water supply projects that started in 2009, 2011 & 2016 are still to be completed and in fact considering the present status of work, the authority concerned is not in a position to commit the actual commissioning date of these projects. Regarding easy movement inside the city area, no doubt, the recent action taken by the State government for construction of flyovers and skyways will definitely help in easing the traffic congestion. However, where development of a modern transit system is concerned, the public is not aware about any action being taken by the authority concerned in this regard. To add to the traffic congestion, the majority of Traffic Control Lights in the busy road intersections of the city are out of order, and it is better not to speak about the CCTV cameras. As a modern-day requirement in a city like Guwahati, there should be an underground power distribution system but the public is still in dark regarding any plans in this regard. Though a number of drainage works have been carried out and some works are under progress in different parts of the city, as on date an integrated drainage system covering the entire city area is yet to be formulated and developed. By now, it is everyone's knowledge that unless the surrounding wetlands of Guwahati city are developed, it will be difficult to have a proper drainage system for the city. Controversies and complaints have become a permanent feature in collection of garbage and dumping of the same, not to speak about the Solid Waste Management. Mere cosmetic changes in the form of on-going beautification will hardly serve the purpose of turning Guwahati into a Smart City.

Seeing the plight of the city, we the common public of Guwahati fervently request the Guwahati Smart City Limited to come out of its stupor and work hard to achieve the objectives under the master plan perspective 2025.

Dilip Kr. Sarma,

Guwahati

Uncalled for statements

The Uttar Pradesh BJP leadership has warned MLA Surendra Singh for his indefensible remarks and asked him not to issue 'uncalled for statements' on various matters. The MLA has been publicly defending the accused in the Ballia shootout case and had made another comment that incidents like the alleged gangrape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl in Hathras can be stopped only if parents inculcate good values in their daughters. This is the right step brought by the BJP. The public representatives must express their sentiments on any issue cautiously and maintain the dignity of the position.

Amit Singh Kushwaha,

Satna (M.P.)

All the regional parties of Assam should unite

We are seeing that vigorous competition is going on in Assam these days to create regional political parties. But why does not everyone understand that by creating such regional political parties, only the ruling party will benefit in the coming assembly election. That is why all the regional political parties of Assam should unite and fight a great election against the ruling BJP. If you really want to defeat the ruling BJP government in Assam, then all the regional political parties will have to be one. Otherwise, there will be no benefit from forming such regional parties.

Chandan Kumar Nath,

Sorbhog.