Editor,
Apropos the article by Patricia Mukhim, ‘Shillong – everyone’s living space, no one’s home’ (ST June 24), I was shocked and appalled at the irrational views of the writer on the subject of waste generation and dumping in Shillong. I have been an ardent reader of Ms Mukhim’s writings and admired her a lot in her tact and mindful approach on various sensitive issues pertaining to Shillong and the North East. What I fail to understand is her take on the latest issue.
The issue here is about waste and its dumping. Without proper regulation each one of us, saints and sinners are fallible to irresponsible dumping habits. The crux of the problem is not about who has dumped how much waste and what has been dumped. Rather the real issue is about a proper mechanism to curtail and regulate waste dumping habits. I do not understand the intention of the writer in naming the Manipuri people and blaming them for the waste being dumped in her locality. Is she trying to communalize waste? Ill habits at Dum Dum do not reflect and should never reflect on the people of Manipur.
During my Master of Social Work course at Martin Luther Christian University, I had the privilege of working with North East Educational and Development Society (NEEDS), an NGO based in Lummawrie, Laitumkhrah. While working there as an intern, we did surveys on the use of plastic bags, bio-medical waste and most importantly we made a documentary on solid waste management in Shillong which is titled ‘TIME OUT’ as part of our block placement. During our interaction with respondents in the surveys, there were intriguing as well as perplexing views about the extensive waste accumulation in and around the city. Some of the views were downright radical and pragmatic while others, like Ms Mukhim’s dwelt on blaming other communities for the sorry state of affairs. Even as student social workers, we had the sanity to reserve the no holds barred responses, knowing that the real problem, as majority of the respondents agreed was that of management. Ms Mukhim’s picking on the people from Manipur is unwarranted and uncalled for. The best she could have done was to go to the Dorbar with her complaints, pull up the violators and penalize them instead of maliciously writing about them in a demeaning manner.
Why not try finding a way to ensure that the garbage truck operates the way it was supposed to? Will Dum Dum be a miniature of Singapore if the said Manipuri residents were driven out of the locality? Where is the sense and sensibility here? Why did she uncannily resort to this kind of gibberish when she herself pointed out that the real problem lies in the nature of waste management?
The dumping site at Jingkieng was stopped after a barricade was made and a police booth constructed. That is pragmatic management. The concrete dumping right in front of Super Care Hospital was dismantled and in its place a shop was constructed. That is wise management. There are many ways to manage waste effectively. We only need to put our heads together, work together and suggest measures for better civic management and a mechanism that actually works. And mind you, picking out people from a particular place or community is definitely not one of them!
Yours etc.,
Mang Touthang
Shillong – 14