Editor,
As per our research we need a strong and concentrated campaign to curb the pollution caused by plastics. The ban on plastic bags is very hard to put in place as packaging has taken its roots in our day to day life. Moreover, these days it is not possible to buy milk in a jug. The only way out of this problem can be that our old plastic should be replaced with oxo-biodegradable plastic so that it becomes biodegradable in open environment in the same way as a leaf.
UAE has already banned plastic products except oxo-biodegradable plastics (February, 2012). Oxo-biodegradable plastics are those which bio-degrade in the presence of oxygen in a timescale which can be approximately determined by the chemical formulations which are added to normal plastic at the extrusion stage. The chemical formulation which can be added to normal plastic is symphony’s d2w technology. Symphony is a British public company, listed on the London Stock Exchange. Also, because oxo-biodegradable plastics can be manufactured by local factories therefore there will be no loss of jobs. The technology is not expensive at all. It is unfair to burden our children and grandchildren with this problem as there is something we can and should now be doing about it.
Yours etc.,
Shikha Sharma,
Via email
Corrupt traffic cops!
Editor,
On Monday evening (March 26 2012) I parked my four wheeler at Nakham Bazar to fetch vegetables and mutton (Its much cheaper in Nakham Bazar than from the Ringrey vendors). I must have stood there for over an hour just observing the traffic police. I am intrigued at how the men in uniform were using or rather misusing their ‘authority’ as the officer in charge traffic would like to put it, adopting a harsh tone, snatching the helmets of some….., slapping the other and tucking away the notes they have collected ( Rs 30 for bikers, Rs 15 for scooters Rs 28 for autos, and Rs 12 for four wheelers) and kept in the safety of their pockets. It is indeed an awful sight!. Welcome to Tura Traffic Police where FIR s are seldom registered, where culprits go scot free!! We rely on them to keep us safe on the streets!.
Yours etc.,
Tangkam Momin,
Tura
It’s not Motinagar, Please!!!
Editor,
While appreciating the yeoman service of the government for extending the Shillong Supplementary Public Transport System(SSPTS) for ferrying passengers/residents to and from Iewduh to Lumpyngngad (not Motinagar as mentioned in the windshield of the SSPTS route) I would like to point out here that there is a wrong mention of the route name where the local indigenous name of Lumpyngngad disappeared in the windshield showing the name Motinagar instead. Motinagar(read Lumdiengsoh) is not Lumpyngngad and Lumpyngngad is not Lumdiengsoh. They are two different localities having their own jurisdictions, own headmen and village durbars. The concerned department running the SPTS (small buses) seems to be not aware of the existence of Lumpyngngad locality whereas one will find the name of Lumpyngngad locality in the electoral roll or in other government notifications. Even the office of Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board, the office of Central Water Commission and the AG quarters located in the Lumpyngngad locality used their mailing and signboard address as Lumpyngngad not Motinagar. The error on the part of the concerned department hurts the sentiments of local people who want to preserve the local indigenous name.
Secondly, the name of Motinagar does not exist anymore since the name of the locality has changed to ‘Lumdiengsoh. Had it been named as Nehrunagar or Gandhinagar it would have been different. But who is this Moti? We don’t know him. And we don’t know what he has contributed to our society. Hence the name changed to the local indigenous name Lumdiengsoh which we believe and as the name suggests that once upon a time in this small hillock locality different fruit trees were found.
Thirdly, it is said that the name of Lumpyngngad locality derives from the name of the land lady (zamindar) of the area who once upon a time owned a large stretch of land up to Fire Brigade.
Hence, I would appeal to the concerned department to kindly change the name of Motinagar to Lumpyngngad on the windshield of the SSPTS (small buses) showing the bus route and as the terminus of the SPTS is at the last stop of Lumpyngngad locality near the office of Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board. The local indigenous name should be preserved at any cost. That’s why the names of Madras changed to Chennai, Orissa to Odisha, Bombay to Mumbai, Calcutta to Kolkata and so on. We should do the same here.
Yours etc.,
Macdonald Dkhar
President, Khasi Students’ Union
Lumpyngngad Unit
Shillong