Editor
I write with deep concern about the sad state of affairs in our locality, Lumdiengjri which I would like to highlight through your esteemed paper. For most of the residents in this locality, getting a peaceful sleep at night has become almost impossible due to the daily rackets taking place in the road passing through the locality. Every night residents here are exposed to loud and blaring music vibrating from private cars parked illegally in the locality at odd hours of the night. In what has become almost a daily affair, youths in inebriated condition would come in their cars or on foot and loiter in the locality road shouting and cursing throughout the night. Some of these youths would even kick at the shutters of shops or the buckets and vessels kept at the public water tap without any rhyme or reason. The power-cuts by MeECL have only added to the problem as these delinquents become bolder under the cover of darkness. In this pitch darkness it is very hard to discern who is a friend and who is foe. As such, thefts have been committed, drunken youths have used the road as their toilet and cursed to their heart’s content.
As the village body hardly seems to care about these incidents and most of the residents prefer to keep mum, I as a woman feel helpless and do not know where to turn to for help. Through your esteemed paper, I would like to appeal to the concerned authorities to kindly look into the matter and rescue the locality from the mischief makers of the night.
Yours etc.,
A resident of Lum Diengjri
Communication the key to development
Editor,
It is a welcome change to see red shiny city buses plying around the small town of Williamnagar. This move taken by the government of Meghalaya in building better transportation as well as communication system is appreciated. The district headquarter has long been neglected and major developments of this kind are hard to come by. The excuse given is basically law and order situation, but for that matter the state of Manipur has law and order problems 24 x 7. Unless and until development, whether big or small takes place, it cannot be expected that the law and order situation will be settled by military might. There are many private businessmen who would like to set up their trade but due to the present scenario, many are forced to back out of their plans. It is therefore the duty and the responsibility of the government, to take the lead role in all developmental works especially in the service sector.
There are many potential areas surrounding the main town of Williamnagar and if there is proper transportation and communication system, many problems will be solved to a huge extent, especially those related to encroachments. A point to be noted here is that half of the population of the town lives across the Simsang River and there is not even one proper communication channel that is perennial. People build bamboo bridges that are washed out every monsoon and in the process use traditional boats that are unstable to move to and fro, thus creating huge risks to their lives. It is also due to the lack of proper communication systems that there is huge loss to the economy because the local produce from across the river cannot reach the markets.
The Government has done well in introducing the city buses to improve the communication process, but the scoring is just a point in the percentage scale and there are many more thing to be done in the endeavour for a better Government- planned town, that is called Williamnagar.
Yours etc.
Kyle Darren Marak
Via email
Appeal to MeECL
Editor,
I am a student preparing for the SSLC Examination. I thank the Executive Chairman of MBOSE, Tura for the press release published in The Shillong Times (ST March 1, 2012). But my sincere request to the Higher Authorities of MeECL is to discontinue the late night electricity cuts in view of the upcoming SSLC and other final examinations. Students are bound to burn the midnight oil and wake up early morning. The present 5- hour power cut from 1am to 5 am is inconvenient as we are neither able to study after 1am nor before 5am. I hope the MeCEL will take heed of this complaint and co-operate with the student community who are in the midst of their exams
Yours etc.
Avantika Sharma,
Shillong-2.