Editor
The Swachh Bharat Mission has had its impact in our city also. Chetan Bhagat in his article “Cleanliness Begins At Home,” (Times of India, Nov 1, 2014) rightly pointed out that “whenever there is collective sense of ownership, we have higher cleanliness levels. It is for this reason most college campuses are cleaner than the city outside, despite housing thousands of youngster insides.” A collective effort by one and all can achieve this goal of ‘Swachh Bharat.’
In Rilbong-Kenches’Trace, the Shillong Municipality, demolished all the garbage dumping structures which were constructed with MLA’s Local Area Development Fund without giving any notice to the residents and providing an alternative. People who reside off the main circular have a problem because the garbage carrying truck cannot cover the areas located below the main road and they also do not maintain the timings. As a result littering and disposal of garbage has further deteriorated.
I would suggest that hand-pulled garbage trailers can be brought in and left overnight at strategic points where people can deposit their waste. They can be pulled away by the personnel employed by Rilbong Welfare Society and Durbar Shnong. Garbage collection should proceed according to timings. Collective sense of ownership both by Rilbong Welfare Society & Durbar Shnong is imperative to raise the level of cleanliness of Rilbong-Kenches’ Trace. Hence the co-operation of the Durbar Shnong and Welfare is necessary to meet this challenge.
Yours etc.,
Poojarati Chatterjee,
Shillong- 4
What about other lesser known sports?
Editor,
Off late it has been noticed that all the key sports are having their city base league format tournament specially designed to increase viewership & to provide big platform to Indian players, of the particular sport. The concept came into existence with Premier Hockey League (PHL) in 2005 followed by Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008 , Indian Badminton League (IBL) 2014, Pro Kabbadi League (PKL)2014 , and Now Indian Super League (ISL) 2014. I am sure there will be a similar league for Tennis such as Tennis Champions League (TCL) very soon. My concern as a hard core sports lover is that all these sports that are being popularised have already created a niche for themselves in the particular field. But what about sports like Rugby, Baseball, Sepak takraw, Volleyball, Basketball and Handball which are less known? Hardly anyone knows that India has a National Team for Baseball, Rugby & Sepak takraw. I would like to request all the concerned association who are already doing so well in highlighting the sports culture to think about taking these sports to a popular level as people having interest in Cricket and Football are also likely to love sports like Baseball and Sepak takraw.Lets play..!!!
Yours etc.,
Kaustab Chakraborty,
Via email
Electric crematorium too close to human habitations
Editor,
The Electric Crematorium located near T.B hospital, Mawbah, has been causing disturbances not only in the municipality area but the cantonment area as well. For the past few months, foul- smelling fumes from the crematory have permeated the area. Smoke with an acrid smell emanates from the chimney which sometimes burns the eyes or causes cough. The main concern for me are the toxic fumes that come out as black smoke. There is no protection against a business that’s ‘burning bodies and spewing toxic next door to people’s residence’. I request the people concerned in the crematorium project to raise the height of the chimney or adopt some other possible preventive measures so that it would not cause or inconvenience to the residents and passers-by around the crematorium.
Yours etc.,
Damini Thapa,
Shillong-2
Why blame kids for societal failure?
Editor
Let me first say that I do not condone drinking, ‘making out’ or unruly behaviour in public places. It is a collective failure of society when school-going kids indulge in shameless acts without giving a damn to the consequences. It reveals the weaknesses in our parenting skills when we cannot teach good values to our children. It shows that we, as parents and guardians, are unable to lead by example or unwilling to spend quality time with our kids, which could have helped them to distinguish between right and wrong. It reveals the failure of our educational institutions to play a key role in imparting moral values and correcting deviant behaviour through counselling. Schools today are not keen to dedicate time and resources to this vital aspect of education. They teach children to read and write, but absolve themselves of the responsibility of a good moral education. This is a colossal failure whose impact can be seen in the present episode. It is unnecessarily harsh and illogical to put all blame on young shoulders when society does not address glaring weaknesses that contribute to such behaviour. Moral policing is hardly going to correct aberrant behaviour in the long run. The way in which this matter was handled by the police (and the scandal-hungry media) smacked of insensitivity of the highest degree. Was it really necessary for the cops to humiliate these kids by treating them like criminals? What action did the police take against the Ward’s Lake authorities who have been turning a blind eye time and time again? The whole episode appears to have been a publicity stunt engineered by the police at the cost of damaging young people’s reputations and minds. Instead of applauding moral policing which does more harm than good, it would benefit us to first understand and then tackle the root causes of antisocial behaviour in young people.
Yours etc.,
Caroline Lyngdoh
Shillong -14