Letters to The EDITOR: Unhealthy environment from dumped garbage 

Unhealthy environment from dumped garbage 

We can see there are many fields, ponds, and trees along the highways of Assam, which add great beauty to the surroundings. However, in many places, garbage trucks dump waste on the roadside or into sewers. People living in the surrounding areas leave their garbage on the side of the highway, resulting in foul-smelling roads and an unhealthy environment. It is also observed that people are suffering from various diseases due to this. Pedestrians have to cover their faces with their hands or handkerchiefs due to the terrible smell while passing the road. The beauty of the roads has significantly diminished. Therefore, it is imperative for the government and district administrations to take action and prevent people from littering everywhere along the roadside.

Trishanila Deka

Gauhati University

Solution for Assam’s Floods

Any solution or mitigating steps to control the devastating annual flood problem should be welcomed by all the people of Assam. If the construction of large ponds, as mooted by the central government, can rescue the state from this debilitating disaster, let us give this idea a chance instead of ridiculing or rejecting it on grounds of the solution being too simplistic and questioning its effectiveness. 

However, the question that will always haunt the people suffering from the floods is why it took four decades to find this solution. What were the institutions set up to tackle floods, like the Brahmaputra Board, Flood Control Department, etc., doing all these decades? The very existence of these specialized departments at the expense of taxpayers’ money, without any meaningful contribution towards a solution, does not speak volumes about the commitment and concern of the state government to control the flood problem. It’s high time that these institutions were wound up.

Floods have become a means of corruption as substandard and unscientific embankments are constructed, only to be washed away the next year itself, along with large tracts of villages. The government has so far not put in the public domain any data as to the total number of embankments in the state, their durability, expert opinion on their effectiveness to prevent erosion, year-wise data on money spent for construction or repair of each embankment, etc. It is not enough for politicians to rush to flood-affected areas to sympathize with the victims or to inspect the embankments. The government should also demonstrate that their concerns for floods are matched by their pro-active actions on ground zero, having a positive impact on the poor and helpless people reeling under the ruinous floods.

Rajib Sarma

Guwahati 

 Modi’s Austria visit

 India’s “Vishwa Bandhu” image was reiterated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi while interacting with the Indian diaspora during his two-day Austrian tour. The PM lauded the rich Austrian history and culture akin to India. After Indira Gandhi’s visit in 1983, Modi became the first Indian PM to visit Austria. New Delhi and Vienna have given shape to a strategic partnership. Modi and Chancellor Karl Nehammer emphasized on a quick end to the Ukraine war and the establishment of peace in west Asia. Both nations rightly agreed upon areas of robust infrastructural partnership, innovation, renewable energy, water and waste management, artificial intelligence, and smart cities’ development. 

 The existing projects on steel, manufacturing technology, and transport should receive a massive fillip. Of course, cross-border terror was succinctly touched upon by Modi during his talks with the Chancellor. As averred by the PM, it’s on democracy, freedom, liberty, multilingualism, and the rule of law that the bilateral relationship is firmly anchored.  Modi’s Vienna visit came at an appropriate time because it was in 1949—exactly 75 years ago—that a diplomatic relationship was entrenched between the two countries. Moreover, coming just after the highly successful Moscow visit, Modi should be buoyed by the warm welcome accorded to him by the Indian diaspora in Vienna.

Dr Ganapathi Bhat 

(gbhat13@gmail.com)

 Ensuring fair market prices

The Government of Assam’s decision to offer a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to the employees of the Assam State Agricultural Marketing Board (ASAMB) raises significant concerns. A crucial issue remains unaddressed: how will the government ensure effective marketing of agricultural commodities for our farmers?

Due to various unfortunate reasons, our farmers are often deprived of fair market prices for their produce. It is imperative that any restructuring or downsizing plan include robust mechanisms to safeguard farmers’ interests and guarantee them fair returns for their hard work.

Mowsam Hazarika,

KRC Road, Kumarpara,

Bharalumukh, Guwahati

 Celebrate mass in East Indian Marathi language too

 Since the East Indians are the original inhabitants of Mumbai, it's high time the Catholic Church all over Mumbai celebrated the Holy Eucharist (or the Mass, as it is called) in the East Indian Marathi dialect too. When Masses in Mumbai can be celebrated in Konkani, Gujarati, Malayalam, Tamil, and other regional languages, why can't the Mass be celebrated in the East Indian Marathi dialect too, for the sake of the East Indians living in gaothans and villages like Gorai, Culvem, Uttan, Malwani, Manori, and Dongri who cannot speak or understand English? I hope Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the head of the Catholic Church in Mumbai, gives it some thought.

Jubel D'Cruz,

(jubeldcruz@yahoo.com)