Editor,
Among the various types of pollution, least attention is paid to noise pollution, because the damage caused by other forms of pollution are identifiable and liability thereof could be fixed. However, in case of noise pollution the damage caused is invisible but the damage caused is irreparable. It is a commonly known fact, that noise pollution affects our auditory system and mental health and the damage caused is permanent.
Nowadays there is a growing trend amongst youth to have a loud music system in their vehicles which is also otherwise considered as a status symbol. Vehicles both private and commercial with high and loud music system having woofers are found plying in our city with loud blaring music causing much annoyance to pedestrians and others due to high base with vibrating effect. When these errant vehicles with loud woofers pass through residential areas, markets, hospital zones, educational institutions etc., the effect of the sound produced is unbearable and people coming within the range of such music system are very disturbed. The vulnerable victim of this noise pollution are infants, toddlers, the aged and infirm and the sick in our home and neighbourhoods who are put to severe discomfort. A good numbers of vehicles using woofers are regularly plying in Polo, Golf Links, Pynthorbah, Nongmynsong, Umpling (particularly the water carrying vehicles) and adjacent areas. Several educational institutes exist in the above areas and during school hours when these high noise producing vehicles pass by the school areas, it temporarily halts the normal classroom activities and this happens throughout the day. I wonder who has given these errant car owners/drivers the right/license to create noise pollution thereby putting at stake the mental health of the general public. There is an urgent need to curb the menace of loud music played in vehicles, otherwise it would be too late for any remedial measures.
Through your esteemed column, I wish to draw the attention of our Deputy Commissioner, Superintendent of Police, District Transport Authority, State Pollution Control Board, Officer-in-Charge/Traffic Incharge of all the Police Stations at Shillong on the menace posed by the use of loud music in vehicles and further request them to do the needful and take corrective steps for protecting the general public.
Yours etc.,
Aneeta Synrem
Shillong-1
Strict laws for better traffic management
Editor,
As a daily commuter in and around Don Bosco I would like to state that the new traffic arrangement introduced is one of the best to ease congestion. During peak hours traffic would definitely be affected as most families own more than one vehicle; remember that each student comes in a separate vehicle. The concerned authorities have no power to exercise their duties but succumb to certain pressures unlike other states where pool cars or school buses are utilized to ferry students to and from schools. Recently, I saw traffic police clamping some vehicles in Boyce Road. If the same exercise is followed near St. Margaret’s School then commuters would be able to walk safely without squeezing themselves in between cars. Most drivers do not adhere to traffic rules and as the number of vehicles increase every day there would be no solution to the traffic problem as the roads remain the same.
Yours etc.,
Malika Dohling
Shillong-3
Rejoinder on Wards’ Lake
Editor,
Apropos the rejoinder on Wards Lake by the Divisional Forest Officer, Social Forestry Division, East Khasi Hills, Shillong (ST April 25 2017), I have nothing to say about dead and rotten trees but even a fool or an illiterate person can differentiate between a dead and a living tree. My concern is on the healthy and living trees, as I had clearly mentioned earlier that these felled trees were very healthy and bearing new shoots and needles and also flowering and they were far away from the MLA hostel. I fail to understand the kind of technical/scientific practices and methodologies adopted in the State whereby healthy and living trees are rated as dead and rotten, just because of certain cracks and cavities on the trunks of these trees. If that is the criteria then almost all the trees in Wards Lake, the Botanical Garden and the Reserved Forests have to be felled .
The DFO mentioned that five organisations are involved in management and maintenance of Wards Lake including the Forest Department. Wards Lake being a premier tourist spot of Shillong does not bear the expected mark or standard to be termed as a well maintained Lake. Putting together the sincere efforts of these five organisations, its condition is poor, be it in overgrown weeds, jungle clearance of unwanted leaves creepers etc., pruning of dead twigs and branches which is not done and the trees and bushes are not trained to keep them in good shape. Further, I would like to point to the poor maintenance of the Lake. A leaking water pipe running across the steps near the musical fountain is lying unrepaired since last year and a big rock is placed on the pipe to prevent it from sliding down the steps. This creates difficulties and inconveniences visitors using the steps as they are always wet and slippery. In another spot of the renovated upper Lake facing DC’s Office a drain running across the footpath is covered with one inch thick wooden plank instead of a cemented slab. If someone steps on the plank inadvertently it will break and cause injury to the person. A few years back the footpaths were paved with flat stones like tiles which is good but the tiles were not properly laid so they are peeling off one by one near the bridge. The water of the Lake is oily and dirty. It seems dirty kitchen water from the hotels nearby seep into the Lake. In fact there is an underground drain pipe with inspection pits made at certain intervals, on the western side of the Lake to let out the dirty water outside the Lake and one of the cemented slabs of the inspection pit is left in a broken condition for several years. If this is the manner in which the Lake is being taken care of by several Departments, can we call it “scientific management”?
I would request the DFO to kindly inspect the Lake personally, to obtain first hand information about the present condition of the Lake.
Yours etc.,
- Hynniewta
Shillong-1