Editor,
I would like to bring to the notice of the MeECL that while people in the areas surrounding Dainadubi had to stay in the dark for more than a week, the MeECL staff posted here to look after the power distribution did not respond to the situation. Though it’s pretty normal that there are frequent shutdowns in Garo Hills, but here because of the negligence of the staff, people had to stay in the dark for more than a week (29 of April to 6 of May). The meter reader responsible for preparing bills too doesn’t prepare bills on time thereby making matter worse. And it is noticed that the staff of the area have been absent or are not doing their duties since a long time.
I request the concerned authority to look into the matter and take necessary actions before things get worse.
Yours etc.,
Jim Marak,
Via email
Felling of baby trees
Editor,
There is a lot of RCC construction work in and around Shillong and one is pained to see that for support work a lot of immature trees are used. These small trees barely have a diameter of 3 to 4 inches which means that they have been cut at a very young age. One big building uses hundreds of these ‘baby’ trees so one can imagine how many have been cut for use in the hundreds of new buildings being constructed in and around our town. The government should take immediate action to stop the usage of these young trees as these would have added to our forest area had they not been cut down so early. The government should come out with a provision where all support work in new buildings should instead use metal props in order to save our precious forests.
Another place of work which uses timber in large quantities is road work as the bitumen has to be heated. Meghalaya is slated to have hundreds of kilometers of new roads so one can imagine the destruction that will be caused to our dwindling forests. Can some other arrangements not be made? Perhaps the use of gas or, at a pinch, perhaps even coal might save our trees and forests?
Yours etc.,
DM Pariat,
Via email
President on merit please!
Editor,
Apropos Barnes Mawrie’s letter titled “Concession or merit?”(8 May, 2012), I would be extremely pleased if Mr PA Sangma gets nominated for Presidentship and he gets unanimously elected to the supreme Constitutional post because there arises no question about his merit, intellect, experience, deeds, qualities and personality. No wonder Mr Sangma is still fondly remembered as an extremely popular Speaker with efficiency. But I will be the last person to put forward the tribal status or religious affiliation of Mr Sangma while demanding the Presidentship for him. On the one hand we declare that our Indiannesss reigns supreme and vouch for equality of all Indians but on the other, right from issuing a ticket for Panchayat election to nominating the President, the race-religion-caste-tribe-political affiliation-sex of the prospective candidates get religiously invoked by almost all! This is simply not done! When the tribal status, religious affiliation, sex/caste of Mr Sangma, Hamid Ansari, Meira Kumar respectively are exploited to the full for probable Presidency, our trumpet of nationalism sounds pathetically hollow.
When will we learn to become true Indians, perceive all as Indians only and act likewise? Just like Harbhajan Singh, Sunil Gavaskar, Sania Mirza, Sourav Ganguly or M.C.Mary Kom who grace/graced the Indian team through sheer merit and didn’t get selected for their Sikh, Maharashtrian, Muslim, Bengali or Manipuri roots? Similarly it is high time only merit is made the determining factor in all spheres of polity and social life.
Yours etc.,
Kajal Chatterjee
Kolkata