Editor,
Through your esteemed daily i would like to bring to the notice of the concerned authorities about the illegal and unabated parking of tourist taxis along the narrow stretch of Umsyiem and Dawki road which have led to traffic jams and hardships to locals and other passengers plying through this route. The problem is that these taxis park at every nook and corner of this narrow stretch at their own whims and fancies. Consequently what one sees here are frustrated car drivers who get blocked by these tourist taxis. Moreover, there is a lot of frustration, anger and swearing in front of the tourist, and it is not surprising that tourists are being given a negative impression of how badly disorganized things can be here. To make matters worse we also have the big 909 dumpers with their heavy load plying through this same road. It seems nobody in authority, not the local dorbar (Dawki and Umsyiem), not the police( Dawki PS and Pynursla PS) nor the district administration(West Jaintia hills and East khasi hills) are solving this serious problem. This mal-administration has to stop. The concerned authorities must find a solution and stop this illegal parking once and for all. A simple advice is to allot parking space to these tourist vehicles and collect a minimal parking fee which in turn can become a revenue generation activity for whoever runs these tourist spots. No doubt the Dawki area has a huge potential for tourism but it should be in an organized manner. I hope this letter will be taken in the right spirit and that it will lead to the competent authorities taking the necessary steps.
Yours etc
Manuel Carey Lymba
Shillong 08
Artefacts must be respected and conserved
Editor,
Culture refers to the way of life of people including their behaviors, beliefs, values and symbols and heritage is the full province of our inherited traditions, monuments, objects and culture. It is passed from one generation to the next by communication and imitation. It is our responsibility to protect the culture left behind by our ancients. Precious stones like diamond, sapphire, emerald, ruby etc and precious metals – gold, silver etc are plenty in our earth but culture and heritage need to be conserved lest they are forgotten with time. So, whatever we have inherited from our ancestors, we must preserve and maintain it and levitate to the next generation. Two noteworthy incidents must to be mentioned as those have happened in recent times. The 4500-year-old mummy of Egyptian Princess Naishu, daughter of the Pharaoh Vl was successfully restored by Anupam Sah, the head conservator of Mumbai’s Prince of Wales Museum. Princess Naishu’s mummy has been in Hyderabad State Museum since around 1920 in an airtight glass enclosure. But still the printed hard crust covering of the mummy began to crack and fall apart. As a result, the bandaged areas began to get exposed. None could help with positive results including the British Museum in London and Museums of Egypt as well. Finally arduous labour of Mr. Sah and team was successful and a nitrogen chamber is made for the mummy which will lead to complete zero-oxidation or further ageing. Out of the six authentic Egyptian mummies in Indian museums, Naishu’s is the only one in South India. The other incident is about a 3000-year-old axe from the Neolithic period that has been shifted to the Pazhassi Raja Archaeological Museum at East Hill in Kozhikode. Before shifting it was in a village office in Kasaragod district lying unattended. The axe is 22 cm long, weighing 1.48 kg and made with granite. Similarly, many more axes from Neolithic period were discovered in Kozhikode. We are bestowed our identity and individuality by history and should consider it fortunate to protect our graceful past.
Yours etc.,
Sanjukta Maiti
Shillong – 6