By Wankitbok Pohshna
Barring the journey along the NH40 from Guwahati to Shillong which is somewhat smooth for distant travellers under the blessings of the critical 4 lane project, the road scenario within the city of Shillong is indeed in bad shape. Almost all the internal roads of almost all the localities in urban areas are in deplorable conditions. Be it Polo, Laitumkhrah, Nongmensong, Nongrah, Pokseh, Iewduh, Laban, Lumparing, Nongthymmai, Nongrah just name it. Anyone would wonder what’s up with the PWD department which maintains the roads of Shillong city. Are they sorely incompetent or are they lacking in funds or is it mismanaged by opportunists as many have submitted through letters to the editor here. Even when such deplorable roads are repaired during festive seasons or for that matter during the winter months, they don’t survive the first monsoon which arrives early as May or June. The impact of the first rain washes off the wearing surface commonly known as the top layer of the road and thereafter by the end of September or so, large potholes dominate the entire length and breadth, which results in every road in every nook and corner of the city looking unattended and shabby.
What basically leads to such deplorable conditions is the question which we road tax payers frequently wonder? From a layman’s observations the main factors which lead to such pathetic roads is firstly the lack of proper storm water drainage. Secondly, the manner in which the roads are repaired without proper treatment of the affected areas, and thirdly the haphazard dumping of solid waste in community drains and main drains of the city. On the arrival of high intensity short duration showers, the unattended solid waste clogs the inlet of minor drains which leads to water spilling over the thin layers and wearing off the surface of the road. Such layers with improper bonding during the curing period lead to waste water spilling over from the drains to wash away the layered bitumen thereby exposing the second layer which is the sub grade/sub base layer. The Sub base layer is usually laid with graded stones and course sand, which has more tendencies to crack, if water penetrates continuously. Another factor which contributes largely to this effect is the manner in which the major drains in urban areas are structured, constructed and repaired. When any drain is opted for repair, the easiest method used commonly is the plaster finish with raw cement coating to the drains and wall section. Sometimes the inability of the drain structure to withstand the flow of water gives way to cracks which leads water to seep into the soil layer.
On casual observation, we see that the reason which attribute to all these defects is either the improper management of the authorities who look into the affairs of roads/ drains maintenance or the lack of supervision on the contractors who execute improper construction at site. In areas where SMB usually does the maintenance work, there is utter confusion on the responsibility it has. Some drains are either monitored by the SMB or the drains adjacent the bitumen road are supervised by the PWD. This duality sometimes leads to total neglect of the roads. But who is actually responsible for all this mess? Is it we the people or is it the department/s concerned? Well, both are to be blamed since most of us who live in urban areas lack civic sense. We hardly have second thoughts when dumping garbage onto the drains beyond our compound walls, or to dump concrete waste, metals, plastic bottles and many other things directly into the common drain without worrying for the consequences that follow. We barely think over where the waste goes. No doubt we are a hill station where drains flow naturally by virtue of gravity, to the streams, but we are least bothered with what happens downstream.
Almost all the drains in Shillong date back to the 50’s and 60’s and were constructed during the erstwhile Govt. of Assam. Since then not many drains had received an overhaul or a new recourse. When the JNNURM scheme was implemented during 2008-2010, there were few drains in the city which got a makeover through the much hyped scheme; however the manner in which the drains got that makeover also was basically the usual cement plaster finish. Some drains were even brush-painted with liquid cement during that opportune period. The drains could hardly last for 5 years and whatever money that was pumped then, went in vain. The after effects of such bad management by the concerned monitoring authority resulted in areas like Dhankheti, Laitumkhrah and Polo etc to flood whenever we have heavy rains. What alternate solution do we have? At present there is none and we have to bear the brunt with each passing monsoon with a hope that rains don’t last for a longer duration.
What about the blame that we people lack civic sense in managing our solid waste? Shillong is a city with at least 4-5 lakhs inhabitants and to make it a clean city, is indeed a huge task for any civic government. But that wouldn’t have been an issue for municipal administered areas as many would wonder. Very recently the Govt through its implementing agency the State Investment and Project Management and Implementation Unit had introduced the Green and Blue bins for household waste management. The scheme was such that each household in the municipal administered and municipality areas receive the free bins to segregate their waste at source in the comfort of their homes. The green bin was meant for biodegradable waste and blue bin was meant for non-biodegradable materials such as bottles, plastics etc. Each member through public awareness campaigns was initially given demonstrations on how to use the bins at home. The implementation agenda was such that the public was pre informed of the time and process in which the garbage would be collected. Each clustered locality was given a cycle of 3 times per week whereby 2 collection trucks would come to collect the segregated waste. When the process was commissioned in June this year, people got confused on the manner in which the waste was required to be segregated by them. However, the collectors were lenient during the first week to teach and explain the masses about the entire new collection process. But by the end of the month of implementation the process abruptly stopped and as usual there was only a single garbage truck coming in the early hours of the day to do the usual garbage collection. Many of us failed to understand what exactly went wrong with the entire process of effective home solid waste management. Some even surprisingly questioned why is it that most schemes introduced by the Govt are usually short lived?
At a time when the entire country is on a ‘swachta’ mission to make the nation clean, such effective system of waste management should have indeed been extended to even non- municipal areas too, but here we have a system that could not sustain for even half a year in a small area. The irony is that the bins have themselves gone waste; people are either storing water or stuffing eatables at home. Many think back to the AUSAID years, which was equally short- lived here in Meghalaya and without a sustainable model.
What then is the need of the hour? Each one of us has to correlate our contributions that we make every day to the society as a whole. Either we have to be proactive in the decision making process of the Govt or to shoulder the responsibility of being the careful watchdogs. The 21st century has lots more to offer, yet we in Meghalaya are still craving for better roads and basic amenities leave alone free Wi-Fi zones. There are hardly any usable public toilets around; even the ones which are there are ill maintained. At the onset when emphasis is being laid to promote tourism, Shillong has much homework to do. A comprehensive and in depth cleanliness campaign is required to bring people from all walks of life to come together to work out on a mission to keep our surroundings clean. Just the cleaning drive organized by the various Dorbar Shnong is not enough to achieve the swachta mission.
While on one hand Meghalaya boasts of being home to the cleanest village in Asia, every visiting tourist passes by dirty Shillong to reach that cleanest village. If the collective responsibility of the people of Mawlynnong resulted in their attainment of the cleanest village tag, then surely the onus taken by the State Govt, the implementing agencies and the people of Shillong will one day make each visitor to exclaim, ‘Oh Shillong! Thou beauty, unsoiled and serene.