Editor,
I would like to bring to the notice of the PWD that the road condition all over Shillong is in a deplorable mess. You go to any road, Jail Road, Laban, Kench’s Trace, Polo Ground, Rynjah etc.and you will find the roads are not just pot-holed but have huge craters which are dangerous to vehicles. The quality of roads in Meghalaya is second only to Nagaland. The road from Police Bazar to Thana Road which is supposed to eb pedestrianised and was tiled just over a year ago but all the tiles are already coming out. Those that are fixed are also not in a systematic manner. I wonder who the contractor is and what connection he/she was with the Congress ministers in Meghalaya. The longest broken patch is near the Gold Cinema (formerly Dreamland Cinema) right in the middle of the road which was dug up by some residents over there as their water pipeline passes through the middle of the road. We do not understand why the water lines were not removed to the side before fixing the tiles and this will become a regular feature because since people have to dig up their pipelines when they don’t get water. This shows that the work was done in an unthinking manner and we are left wondering how the PWD or the Urban Affairs engineer/s has approved the work and released their money.
Yours etc.,
Debo Mahabir,
Via email
Of taxi fares in Sgillong
Editor,
Apropos the letter “Taxis fleecing passengers !” (ST Oct 27, 2014) I would like to bring to your notice that there is an App called “Go Shillong” launched a couple of weeks back. The app has information for the rates of fares for buses and taxis plying within Shillong. Having this app on my phone did help me at least know what is the expected rate for my ride.
Yours etc.,
Wanlambok,
Via email
Mr CM are you proud of our roads?
Editor,
There was a time when we could tell the people of other states of the North East that our roads were better than theirs. Now it’s a shame to take people around the city where some roads are non-existent or have eroded so much that vehicles bear the worst brunt. It is shameful because its shows the level of corruption in the Public Works Department and no one seems able to hold the Department accountable. The Chief Minister should now concentrate on real governance instead of running around the globe talking of things that might never take off. We don’t really need to learn organic farming from France do we? Have not our ancestors done organic farming all their lives until the Agriculture Department stepped in and pumped in fertilisers and pesticides galore…much more than our soil can absorb? Now all the pesticides ad fertilisers have to be cleaned out and one wonders who will do the organic marking for our crops. But coming back to the quality of roads it will be good to citizens to get together and find out how much money is spent for the road repairing works in their area and when the last repair happened. Last time a news report appeared about one of the roads in the city of which Jemino Mawthoh is the representative, he said that the same road had not been repaired in 30 years. Can we ask who represented that area (Rynjah) for so many years without seeing the condition of the road. Was AL Hek not the MLA of that area for successive number of years until the recent delimitation of constituencies? Well, Mr Hek’s personal wealth ranking is enviable but his constituency seems to have suffered the most. It is time to start taking stock of how each MLA has been able to get into the self-aggrandisement project, starting from the top.
The PWD and PHE have been the most milked departments so instead of good roads it is the PWD Minister, engineers and contractors who make a killing. And instead of good, pure drinking water we are not even getting the bare minimum of water we need. Many residents of Shillong now depend on private tankers for water. We urge the Chief Minister to take stock of all the Departments in the government and to pull up the socks of the non-performing departments, no matter who the minister is.
Yours etc.,
LM Nongkynrih,
Via email