Thank God for the heavy rains
Last week’s heavy monsoon showers have brought down the city’s temperature a few notches lower.
The heavy rains have also cleaned up the garbage that now has become Shillong’s Unique Selling Point (USP) The Umshyrpi and Wah Umkhrah, two major rivers flowing through the city made a rumbling sound as the water flowed vigorously taking all the garbage along with it to be deposited at the Umiam Lake.
Looking at the Uttarakhand experience we fear that much the same thing could happen in Meghalaya if a similar cloudburst happens. The sheer force of rain water has ravaged hills, roads, buildings and destroyed everything along its path. Meghalaya’s exposed hillsides where sand, stones and rocks are gouged out could be the biggest casualty if such a cloudburst occurred.
For the first time these rivers were seen flowing in full force breaking all barricades that were temporarily erected by people on their sides. You almost feel sorry for the Umiam Lake which becomes the repository of all this junk from Shillong City.
The one-off cleaning drive by the CEM, KHADC P M Syiem who personally waded into the Umkhrah is a futile exercise since people residing along the Umkhrah continue to throw garbage and release their septic tanks into the Wah Umkhrah. Wonder when the citizens of this Shillong will take charge and stop littering the Wah Umkhrah.
Is the SMB communal?
The regular show of strength by the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) aided by the District Administration when hawkers along the Khyndailad pedestrianised road are hauled up and their goods confiscated has turned into a ritual. It happens once a week or forth-night and then it’s back to business as usual.
The hawkers know that they are not going to jail for violating the Municipal laws. They have powerful Godfathers anyway. So the exercise is a waste of time and resources. It is time that more stringent laws are enacted so that hawkers learn that the administration and the SMB mean business. Some of the businessmen around the area whine that only non-tribal hawkers are targeted whereas the tribal vendors are let off without any penalty. A prominent business person from Khyndailad asked why the Government does not raid the hawkers across the city from Laitumkhrah to the footpath around Shillong Civil Hospital. Last heard, some businessman is contemplating filing a PIL in the High Court for this selective targeting of hawkers from select communities and allowing others elsewhere to peddle their wares.
Slum in the heart of the city
It appears that the Urban Affairs Department/Shillong Municipality have no sense of aesthetics. The space right in front of OB Shopping mall which was leased out to some person during the time when Mr JM Pariat was Urban Affairs Minister is now a garbage dump that emits a stench which carries several metres around.
In the middle of that garbage dump is a plastic covered shop inside which a young lady is cooking food and selling to those who spend their time in that slum. The place is frequented by young people who after sniffing dendrite are sleeping amidst the garbage.
It is ironic that a swanky looking hotel has come up bang opposite that little urban slum above the MUDA Parking lot. The hotel overlooks this horribly nauseating space. Shillong Jottings wonders how the Urban Affairs Department can be blind to this abomination in a place which tourists throng. This place is a big shame to the Urban Affairs Department. A Government with spine would have taken over this place a long time ago, cleaned it up and used it profitably.