Letters to the EDITOR: Improving the city’s air quality

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Improving the city’s air quality

According to a 2023 world air quality report published in the newspaper on March 20, Guwahati has been placed as the second-most polluted city in the world. The report has been compiled by IQAir, a Swiss air quality company that has collected air sensor data from 7812 cities around the world. Ironically, the world's top-most polluted city is also in India—Begusarai in Bihar. IQAir is a private agency, and its reliability remains a question mark! However, on its face value, the report revealed that the city's air pollution has more than doubled in a year, from 2022 to 2023, which must be a red alert for the authorities.

The reasons for the worsening of air quality are manifold. But the most visible reason is the unsystematic and haphazard development in Guwahati under the smart city mission over the last ten years. Residents and commuters over this period have seen frequent construction, demolition, and reconstruction of roads, dividers, footpaths, and even a well-designed (with a lift facility) foot overbridge in the city. The accumulated debris, swirling dust, and heat and sound of machines have menacingly spread pollution in the air. Besides, over-congested traffic and fumes from the burning of engine fuel have worsened the situation.

There is an urgent need to take a holistic approach to the revamping of the city's transport system in order to reduce traffic congestion, lower the smoke from burning fuel, and improve air quality. The air quality can be made healthy if the metro rail is launched in Guwahati. It will be a rapid transport system with high capacity and a pollution-free system, most suited for a growing city like Guwahati.

Pannalal Dey

Guwahati.

VIP ways and culture

The Prime Minister often talks about doing away with VIP culture in the country. He has cited many times how this culture has been an impediment to the growth of this great nation. He also promulgated a rule whereby only a few, including the President and the Prime Minister of India, are allowed to use red-light beacons and sirens on their cars.

But VIPs being VIPs, they continue to discover ways to bend and go around such rules introduced by the most powerful person in the country today. For example, while we don’t normally see a red light on a VIP vehicle, the same VIP vehicle is escorted by multiple police vehicles with red lights and menacing sirens. The public is witness to these on a routine basis.

A few weeks ago, the engagement ceremony of the daughter of a Director General of Police (DGP) was organised at the residence of the senior official. The entire stretch of road on either side of the residence in Guwahati was decorated by policemen and constables all the way from the 9th Battalion in Nagaon. No arrangement for food or drinking water was made for these poor policemen either.

Strange are the ways of the VIPs and VIP culture!

D Bhutia,

Zoo Road, Guwahati

Putin, a firm leader

President Vladimir Putin, who has been at the helm of a “new Russia" since 1999, won 87 percent of the 'people's votes' to gain a fifth term for himself and a mandate to rule Russia for the next six years. The genuineness of the election apart, the 'king' and the 'emperor', as Putin's sycophants term him, is seen as a 'saviour' by many Russians. After inheriting a tough legacy from the erstwhile Soviet Union, Putin grew in stature as only he could.  Also, the master strategist has held the Kremlin together. His bitter critics have no kind words to say about him—"dictator" and "arrogant" being a few of them. His near-absolute control over institutions and dissidence is legendary.

But the powerful man is all set to steer his country's fortunes until 2036 because he is "entitled" to contest one more election in 2030. Firm outlook, quick decision-making, risk-taking ability, keen eye for detail, and unwavering focus are President Putin's strengths. His admirers also hail the former KGB spy's contribution to the uplift of the standard of living of the people of his country and his broad economic vision. Year after year, Putin has checked all the right boxes in domestic opinion polls, except the one on corruption. Criticisms apart, the 71-year-old leader’s commitment to his country have rarely been questioned. His handling of the Ukraine war, too, has earned him praise in some quarters.

Dr Ganapathi Bhat

(gbhat13@gmail.com)