By Toki Blah
What is wrong with Shillong? I’m going to be 66 years old and the question needs to be answered. It seems as if it was only yesterday, when as a child, I was sitting in class, concentrating on an essay set up by my class teacher. The topic was ‘Scotland of the East, Queen of the hill stations’. The subject under discussion was of course Shillong, my home town, a habitation then renowned for its beauty, spacious greenery, cleanliness and social grace. Today, do class teachers still ask for essays with such titles? If they do they must be either mad or blind. The sobriquet for cleanliness and beauty is no longer the prerogative of this city. The Assamese took it away with them when they gave us our hill state. We on the other hand then RESTED and just didn’t seem to give a damn whether we live as decent humans beings or wallow in our own filth and waste!
Let’s take congestion for a start. It would be the understatement of the century to say that Shillong is overcrowded. Two thousand vehicles with more than 20,000 passengers move into the city every morning from outlying areas. Public transport buses, local taxis, tempos and private vehicles then join in to ferry the local residents about their daily business. Interestingly enough most of this activity is severely restricted to a 16 square kilometre area bounded by Pynthorumkhrah to the East, Mawbah ( Barapathar) to the West, Jaiaw to the North and Malki- Laitumkhrah to the south. So daily more than half a million people jostle cheek by jowl in a 4 x 4 km urban area serviced by only two 2lane roads; narrow bylanes; parking lots for not more than 500 vehicles; zero public transport stands; with less than 10 public toilets; criss -crossed by stinking, over flowing drains; leaking water mains, crumbling and overcrowded footpaths and what have you. Fact is, we actually live in an urban nightmare people dimly recall as ‘The Scotland of the East’!
Move over to Motphran and Iewduh. 100 years ago Shillong had a population of 20,000. Today it’s more than half a million. Iewduh continues to serve both populations without undergoing any lateral expansion or improvement itself. Neither has Shillong been able to come up with any alternate market for its burgeoning population. In the meanwhile Iewduh has transformed itself from a market hub that once served humanity to a decrepit soulless money churner for the Syiem and his myntris. Motphran from 7am to 7pm every day has to be experienced to be believed. Eatables from meat, fish and vegetables are sold on pavements where street dogs and drunkards relieve themselves. Food is sold over open sewers. Hawkers take up pavement space meant for pedestrians while pedestrians, women, children and the aged jostle and push themselves between the wheels of plying vehicles. Truth is, both Iewduh and Motphran are simply ‘a tragedy waiting to happen!’
Citizens complain; they are concerned and they worry. They are the ones who face the perils of eating contaminated rubbish, of being pushed under the wheels of a bus or of being physically manhandled just trying to board a bus back home. Yet their woes are placated not by improvement in civic services but by stupid NGO demands that the above social menaces be tolerated in the name of preservation of tradition and livelihood options for the poor! Time that the pseudo champions of the poor must also realise that the interests of the underprivileged would be better served through improvement of both our urban infrastructure and its governance. Preventing the two can only increase the misery of all. Is anybody, especially the usual busy bodies, listening?
We talk about Iewduh and Motphran as if they are the only issues of concern in attempting to rejuvenate Shillong. Point is the whole of Shillong has become a vast urban slum. What is the definition of a slum? Wikipedia defines a slum as ‘a heavily populated urban area characterized by substandard housing and squalor.’ Substandard housing usually means squalid unplanned structures with questionable drinking water facilities and poor or outdated sanitary provisions. Squalor would imply nonexistent drainage and sewage systems accompanied by outmoded and shabbily maintained waste disposal systems. One look at any or all localities of Shillong will provide an immediate practical and shameful example of the above! Shillong as an urban entity is a slum! It’s ailing; it’s sick and it’s on the verge of total collapse unless something is done -ASAP.
If we are serious about restoring the former glory of Shillong, three fundamental requirements will have to be addressed. The most urgent requirement, yet the one that faces the maximum opposition, is modern Urban Management through elected representatives. Opposition to this basic need springs out of fear that Municipal representation will undermine authority and role of local Dorbars. We remain stuck with this fear and in the meanwhile the whole city is crumbling before our eyes. Urgently needed is a Shillong centric paradigm on urban management where the local Dorbars take charge of the Municipality. If this means that the Municipal Act needs to be changed and amended, so be it. If Traditional bodies are to be given more responsibilities, control and say in civic elections and future urban management aspects, let it be so. Point is, let’s get on with it instead of twiddling our thumbs in unnecessary worry and fear. Let’s do it for this city we love.
Improving Shillong will also demand recognition of the fact that the city is expanding and that we must steer, guide and facilitate this growth. A broader mindset needs to replace a stunted narrow world view. As such, the concept of a New Shillong at Mawdiangdiang must be encouraged, pushed and initiated despite those who habitually say ‘No’ to everything. Govt establishments should start moving to this new township. We need a well planned metro for our future generations. Stakeholders involved must work together towards this goal and the Government, the KHADC, the Traditional Institutions and civil society are stakeholders. At this juncture a critical and crucial aspect of our social makeup needs to be addressed. The time to confront each other must come to an end. Engagement rather than confrontation is the need of the hour. Only then can we have sustainable participatory development, growth and in the process save Shillong and its citizens from becoming slum dwellers. Couldn’t resist tweaking a lyric of the famous Everly Brothers, “So sad to see a good town go bad”
In conclusion, a saved Shillong will necessarily be a decongested Shillong and this will entail expanding our roads and also coming up with alternatives such as flyovers etc. It is learnt that there are seven suitable sites for such expansion lying within the cantonment area which the Defence Establishment is prepared to let go in exchange of equivalent land elsewhere. This is in keeping with Defence Ministry policy with regard to handing over of Army land to civil authorities. We call on our Government and elected representatives to apply their collective political will to expedite the issue. Side by side Garrison Ground can no longer remain a singular ridiculous example of ‘The Dog in the Manger attitude’. The Military needs to realise that it lives in a society and not in isolation and that we are speaking of the Indian Army and not of an occupying force. The citizens of Shillong need additional recreational space. Why can’t Garrison Ground be shared for recreational purposes? Why not indeed! A rational explanation is called for!
Author is President of ICARE, an organisation that focuses on issues of good governance