By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: UDP legislator Jemino Mawthoh has questioned the State Government for failing to take concrete measures to arrest the problem of urban congestion in the State.
“Out of the total urban population in the State, 60 per cent of the population is concentrated in Shillong city. The increase in the population in Shillong is a result of huge floating population and also the large migration of people from the rural areas to the city,” Mawthoh said while moving a motion in the Assembly on Tuesday.
He said that the city has a total number of 19 notified slums which is an indication that Shillong has become overcrowded.
With the citizens of Shillong cramping for space, he said that the Government needs to have a serious thought on development of a satellite township.
“As it stands at present, the situation of Shillong is really pathetic. Roads cannot be widened due to encroachment by people,” he said, while adding that the Government needs to have a strategic plan to restore the lost glory of the ‘Scotland of the East’.
He said that the State needs to revive the proposal of construction of flyovers and regulate the entry of vehicles from other districts into the city to ease the congestion.
“Despite several constraints, the traffic personnel are doing a wonderful job,” Mawthoh said while adding that with manpower constraints, the traffic personnel vehicle ratio in the State at present is 1:146.
He said that the Government also needs to address congestion in major commercial areas like Iewduh and Mawlonghat.
According to Mawthoh, the Government also needs to put the public transportation in the right track.
“As per the information, many of the STPS buses have become dysfunctional which is really sad,” he said.
In reply, Urban Affairs Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh stated that the main cause of urban congestion in the State is than most of the urban centers in the State have expanded on old towns and prominent villages which were primarily unplanned and characterized by narrow roads and concentric development.
“Majority of road corridors in these old towns suffer from several inadequacies such as capacity constraints in the road network and poor definition of road hierarchy,” Lyngdoh said.
It may be mentioned that there has been no legal backing for preparation of Master Plan for the towns and its enforcement till 1990. The Meghalaya Town and Country Planning Act, 1973 which was applicable to a limited area was extended and made operational only during 1990.
Thereafter, master plan for the major urban centers have been prepared and adopted.
According to Lyngdoh, master plans for Shillong, Tura and Jowai were prepared and enforced.
The Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) was made the nodal agency for enforcing the plans.
“However due to multiplicity of authorities and the prevailing land ownership system, implementation and enforcement of the master plan is a challenge,” the Urban Affairs Minister said.
Lyngdoh said that this is so because in most of the towns, the administration is vested within town dorbar or local traditional dorbar especially in the Shillong urban agglomeration whereby the development regulations are enforced only in the Shillong Municipality.
She also said that this has affected the land use very hard leading to haphazard development almost throughout the length of the city.
The Urban Affairs Minister also stated that to worsen the situation further many new activity centers and shopping centers have been constructed on already congested roads without maintaining any statutory setback or taking other planning considerations into account.
“This pattern has severely affected urban planning process and in particular hampered the transportation facilities,” she said.
Lyngdoh also said that another factor that contributed to this urban congestion is the issue of land.
“Land is an extremely scarce resource in the State. Most of the land is under private ownership or under traditional institutions. In urban centers of the State especially in Shillong and Tura, all migrant population is concentrated in certain localities consequent of which it has lead to slum-like condition and in the process increased urban congestion,” Ms Lyngdoh said.
The Urban Affairs Minister also provided figures and stated that urbanisation in Meghalaya has maintained a steady pace.
Growth of population has increased substantially since the inception of the State recording 18.06 per cent in 1971-1981, 18.57 per cent in 1981-91, 19.58 per cent in 1991-2001 and 20.07 per cent during 2001- 2011.
The number of urban settlements has also increased from 16 to 22 between 2001 and 2011.
However the decadal growth rate has gone down to 31.01 per cent in 2001-2011 from 37.59 per cent in 1991-2001 and 37.10 per cent in 1981-91 in spite of the addition of six more towns.
Lyngdoh also pointed out that though the urban growth may not be statistically high, the densities of some the towns is reported to be relatively high.
As per the 2011 Census, the Shillong Municipality records a density 13,291 persons per sq km which is relatively high.
Similarly, the other constituent units of Shillong urban areas – Nongthymmai, Cantonment area, Mawlai, Pynthorumkhrah and Madanriting – have also shown a high increase in population density though they are yet to reach saturation limit.
She also informed that the Government was taking measures to ease congestion in the urban centers in the State like development of satellite townships.
In case of Shillong, the master plan envisaged setting up of the New Shillong Township (NST).
As per the projections of the master plan, the estimated population of Shillong by the year 2011 is around five lakhs.
“The present city infrastructure can at best cater to three lakh people, hence, the New Township Project was envisaged to accommodate the additional two lakh population,” she said.
Lyngdoh also informed the House that so far 370.26 hectares of land have been acquired at a cost of Rs 33.73 crore.
She also informed that the Urban Affairs department is contemplating acquisition of another 1200 hectares of additional land for the NST for provision of infrastructure, housing, commercial, institutional, administrative and recreational uses.
She also informed the House that master plan for roads, power and water supply has been prepared.
Another measure taken up by the Urban Affairs department is the decentralization of commercial activities in the city, whereby new commercial hubs will be in place in the New Shillong Township.
Besides the District offices of the State Government is also proposed to be shifted in the future, she said.
“Already at present the Meghalaya Home Guards and Civil Defence offices have started functioning in NST. Other institutions like NIFT, RGHIIM, IHM and MATI will be functioning soon. This in process will enhance the decentralization of activities,” Lyngdoh informed.