SHILLONG: The general council meeting of the UDP Shillong City has expressed concern over the growing inconvenience in the matter of city life which includes congestion due to increase in traffic, population, scarcity of water, price rise especially of kerosene and other commodities. Briefing reporters after the UDP meeting, the newly elected chief adviser of Shillong City Bindo Lanong said that it is a matter of concern that urban governance collapsed causing hardships to the people of the city. According to UDP, the government also failed to address the growing unemployment problems causing economic hardships to the youths of the state which also led them to take recourse to undesirable activities as it is visible from the spurt in case of use of drugs, molestation, rape and other crimes involving youth. Lanong said that poor disposal of criminal cases coupled with tardy investigation and faulty handling of the cases have emboldened the criminals. He added that unrest among the youths who are turning into criminals is due to the lack of job opportunities and there is an urgent need to create employment avenues. Opening of small and cottage industries would have helped the youth of the state, Lanong said, while adding that even for small essential things the state has to depend on other states. VAB delay The UDP also brought to the notice of the government on the different yardsticks adopted by it in making efforts to clear the Village Administration Bill related to JHADC, while clearance to the KHADC Village Administration Bill is still pending for long. “There is discriminatory attitude on the part of the state government in dealing with the VAB of KHADC which has affected the local administration and curtailed the powers of the traditional institutions “, Lanong said. MUDA jurisdiction The UDP general secretary, Shillong City Allantry Franklin Dkhar said that the government has delayed in addressing the concerns of people who are residing outskirts of the city as far as MUDA building bye laws is concerned. While appreciating the need to have building by laws, the UDP leader said that the government has only realized now to have a separate building bye law for the non Municipal areas.
Marten dump yard Dkhar said that the spillover from dumping ground at Marten, Mawiong is spread from GS road to Mawdun and the area has become sort of a plastic wall.
According to UDP, there is an urgent need to have an alternate landfill to address the growing needs as Umiam lake currently has become a second dumping ground like Marten.
The UDP also asked the state government to address the issue of shortage of water in areas under Mawlai.
Public transport
Dkhar said with the large number of public buses and the maxi taxis under repair, there is an urgent need to correct the anomalies by the government and the officers who entrusted the NGOs to run them instead of Meghalaya Transport Corporation (MTC) should be taken into task.
Dkhar said that the CAG report had pointed out that when the buses and maxi taxis were run by MTC, there was profit whereas the private operators neither run them properly nor carry out maintenance.
He also said that the charges by the buses and the maxi taxis are on a par with the local taxis which defeats the very purpose of providing cheap public transport system.
MeECL under scanner for electrocution
The UDP has also expressed concern over the death of six members of the family due to electrocution and demanded a through probe into the incident.
A pregnant woman and her five children died of electrocution in Mawphlang block on Thursday and the initial police reports had said that the leakage of electricity from the nearby transformer resulted in the incident.
“This is the most horrendous incident. The mother and her kids had to sacrifice their lives due to the negligence of the government and the MeECL” Lanong said.
All the field staff of MeECL should ensure that such type of incidents do not occur in future due to their negligence, he said.
The MeECL should also take steps to repair or remove the faulty electric lines and check leakages of lines to ensure the safety of citizens, he added.
Officer bearers
The general council meeting of the UDP also elected new office bearers for 2016 to 2019. The office bearers are chief adviser ( Bindo Lanong ) advisers ( K M Allya, and AR Mawthoh), president ( Paul Lyngdoh), vice presidents ( Embhalang Syiemlieh and Jemnino Mawthoh), general secretary( Allan Dkhar), chief organizer (Joe Marwein), joint secretaries(Manbha Syiemlieh, and Antony Nongbri), treasurer ( Michael War), publicity (Teilang Lyngdoh), youth wing conveners (Frederick Lyngshang, Bobby Syiemiong and Evandul Marbaniang), and women’s wing convener (Sandra Syiem Donn)