Editor,
I express my heartfelt condolences to the families of those persons who died in the tragic road accident on the Nongstoiñ highway last Sunday morning while on their way to the Synod. May God rest their souls in peace. Humanly speaking, we could say that such a tragedy could have been avoided if safety measures had been in place. Often I have witnessed trucks and even busses carrying people beyond their capacity. I would shudder at the thought of any possible accident whenever I witness such a sight. I remember in one particular jingiaseng somewhere in Ri Bhoi, some 200 persons alighted from a bazaar bus. It shocked me tremendously to even imagine the possibility of such a thing. How can people be allowed to travel in such a precarious condition? In Shillong too we have seen many a local taxi carrying even 9 to 10 persons when its capacity is only for 4 passengers. Evidently the driver is able to manoeuvre the vehicle with great difficulty. For a few rupees more, the precious lives of people are put at risk. Meghalaya is a state where safety measures seem to be non-existent or if they exist at all they are not implemented. I have earlier written about other safety measures being flouted openly by vehicles transporting dangerous materials like iron rods and bamboos. There are so many other examples to show how safety is taken for granted. Human life in our state seems to be cheap or to have no value at all. How can a responsible authority permit a public carrier to carry passengers beyond its given capacity and that too in an open truck with absolutely no protection at the sides? This is the height of carelessness or callousness from the part of the traffic authority. Do we need such a gruesome tragedy to take place in order to learn a lesson? Seventeen innocent persons lost their lives just because someone has not been responsible enough. When will road safety measures be enforced in our state, to avoid similar tragedies?
Yours etc.,
B. Mawrie sdb,
Via email
How to turn waste bins into water buckets.
Editor,
The ST special news report titled “Coloured waste bins turn into buckets” 28th Feb 2017, came neither as a surprise nor was it unexpected. The prestigious ADB Urban Improvement project with its special focus on solid waste management for the city of Shillong, was a target driven initiative. There was a financial target (funds to be used within a financial year) and a physical target (households to be covered within the SMB area). Coloured waste bins were to be distributed to households for the collection of degradable and non-degradable waste. According to the report, “officials said that the distribution of bins is a huge success”. Everyone concurs with the success of bin distribution which was usually graced by the august presence of media conscious MLAs and other VIPs. Sadly the absence of creativity and imagination was never noticed. One year down the line it is the only success that can be associated with the project. Serious doubts and suspicions linger over the proper usage of the distributed bins.
It is now obvious that while SMB achieved its bin distribution target it failed to meet the demand and expectations of the city. Solid waste management remains as rampant and uncontrolled as before, if not worse. At the start of the project there was a simultaneous community driven initiative through the “Save the Wahumkhrah” campaign to come to grips with the waste management problem of Shillong City. The Campaign had come up with a pilot phase concept wherein local durbars were to be first empowered and capacitated in waste management. In each dorbar, local unemployed youths were to be identified for collection of segregated solid waste from households within the dorbar. These youths were to be paid for their services through services fees charged from the households and with initial support from the SMB.
The campaign concept was based on certain prevailing facts. Firstly durbars were as keen as everyone to come to grips with waste management. Mobilisation and coordination of efforts was however needed. Secondly, it has been observed (in durbars outside SMB) that unskilled local unemployed youths were most willing to participate, provided they earned, in the collection of waste in their respective localities. Thirdly, households were willing to pay for collection of garbage. Fourthly, employing local youths under the supervision of the dorbar would act as the required enforcement to ensure compliance in the segregation and collection of waste as desired. Last, for the above to happen it only needed cooperation and coordination between the SMB, Save the Wah Umkhrah Campaign and the concerned dorbars. High officials of the Urban Affairs department, in their wisdom however, thought otherwise.
In a meeting held in the chamber of the then Urban Affairs Minister (though to be fair, the Minister did show interest in the concept and hence the meeting) high officials of the department showed distain and distinct reluctance for any community participation (participation between the Urban Affairs, the Campaign, the durbars and the public) for the management of Shillong waste. In fact the proposal to empower durbars and their youth to enforce the concept was contemptuously turned down on the grounds that the SMB had its own ‘Municipal Inspectors’ who are trained for the job. The inability of the officers of SMB to think out of the box; their reluctance to work with others; their unfounded faith in their notorious Inspectors has now shown its own results. What a dismal waste of money, time and opportunity!
Yours etc.,
Toki Blah,
Via email