Whither press freedom 

Editor,

Apropos “Wanted Freedom of the Press” (Letter to the Editor ST. December 21, 2018) I wish to say that Freedom of the Press comes from Article 19 (1) (a) of the Indian Constitution which guarantees freedom of speech and expression and which also includes Freedom of the press and circulation.  was shocked, amazed and concerned when the Honourable Meghalaya High Court under Justice SR Sen issued a show cause notice to the editor and publisher of The Shillong Times for the news item “When Judges judge for themselves,” published by the esteemed daily. I have read the news item and found that it contained no bias, no derogatory remarks or defamation or contempt of court or any of that sort which can be taken exception to or which could constitute defamation or contempt of court . Then why did the judge issue show cause notice to the editor and publisher and as stated by the writer of the letter, the judge had even reprimanded them in his Court. We fail to understand this development. The news item was based on facts and if there was anything that could be called a comment as such, it was only a fair comment and has no iota of malign or showing contempt of court. We do not see any reason as to why the judge should drag the editor and publisher to the High Court. I appeal to the Honourable Judge to leave the editor and the publisher aside and instead protect and uphold the Freedom of the Press to discharge its democratic duty as the fourth pillar of democracy which is expected of the third pillar of democracy.

Yours etc.

Philip Marwein,

Via email

Judiciary not immune from criticism

Editor,

Criticism and dissent are the nerve centres of democracy. That was why when our Constitution was being written there were several arguments, some very strong, in order to lay the foundation for free speech and expression. Our founding fathers built the Constitution on the basis of dissent and that is why we dissented against illegal laws and policies of the British and it also why we still value dissent for stalling any legislation if it goes against the welfare of the society and people at large. Criticism of the judiciary is nothing new. It has happened over and over again when judges sought certain mileage for themselves. The beauty of our democracy is that we are able to allow dissent and also to critique the weaknesses in our political, judicial and legislative procedures. Hence there is no contempt when judgments come under media and public scrutiny.

Yours etc…

Dominic S. Wankhar

Shillong-3

REJOINDER

Editor,

I would like to make the following clarification apropos the letter to the editor which appeared on the December 20, 2018 under the heading ‘Why this Injustice’ written by one B. Mawlong.

1. The Construction of the New College Building commenced after Building Permission was obtained from MUDA. The Approval is for a G+3 Building.
2. The College did not issue a rejoinder to the earlier letter to the editor as the construction work was according to the Building Plan duly approved by MUDA.
3. The College would never violate any rule or deviate from the Building Plan approved by MUDA.
4. The Building under Construction is on a steep slope. Half of the Building on the rear side is G+3 and the other half of the Building on the front side is G+3. When one views the buildings from the road adjacent to Governor’s House they appear to be higher than G+3. In this case, perception is not reality. The conclusion that B. Mawlong came to is not true.
5. We concur with B. Mawlong that a Letter to Editor appeared in The Shillong Times on October 27, October 2017 under the heading MUDA back to its old truth! written by one BK Singh. Now B. Mawlong asserts that a letter was written by him a year ago. I would just like to get some clarification whether he is the same person or not.
6. Officials of MUDA came for inspection after the letter appeared on October 27, 2017 and found that everything was as per the Building Plan. Again Officials of MUDA came for Inspection on the December 20, 2018 and did not find any deviation from the Original Building Plan approved by MUDA.
7. The College would be willing and happy to meet both BK Singh and B Mawlong if they are two different people to explain and address their genuine concernd.

Yours etc.

J.B. Massar

Principal

Shillong Commerce College

Shillong.

Traffic solutions

Editor,
Again, there was another discussion held regarding traffic congestion in Shillong, (ST December 20, 2018). There have been many such discussions in the past and, over the past year or so, there have been numerous suggestions to solve the problem, – from adoption of caterpillar trains to congestion pricing. There also seems to be a proposal of employing a Japanese Consulting Firm to study the traffic problem. It is learnt that a lot of proposals are in the pipeline, but we are in the dark as to the progress of those proposals. But there seems to be no more time left for any more discussions. Will the infrastructure be ready for the National Games in 2022? And what about proposals for a Smart City?  I am sure if proposals for solving the traffic congestion are made public, cooperation from all quarters will be received, including matters relating to requirement of land, because everyone has a stake in this. Speedy action is the call of the hour.

I would like to point out that flyovers are a must for solving the problem of traffic congestion and also the construction of flyovers in Shillong is achievable. If a flyover can be made in the middle of Chowringhee Road, Kolkata, it should be possible in any difficult situation. The use of Prefabricated Steel Sections is the answer to speedy construction as in Kolkata.  But, for the flyovers to be successful, “origin-destination” studies are necessary and the flyovers must be provided accordingly. Unless “origin-destination” surveys are made at crucial traffic junctions, and  flyovers are properly designed, we are likely to end up with traffic situation similar to that in Guwahati now,—with the traffic below the flyover always choc-a-bloc, while that on the flyover itself, is devoid of traffic. And it must be understood that it is not essential that a flyover has to be constructed only to cater to the traffic on the National Highway or the State Highway, and also it is not necessary that the flyover has to be double-lane. Even a single lane flyover may prove to be sufficient in certain circumstances.
In addition to flyovers, tunnelling may have to be resorted to if the situation demands. And it must also be understood that widening of roads may not be the solution to ease the traffic in all cases. It has been found that narrowing down sections of a road to provide just sufficient space for the number of traffic lanes, leads to traffic calming. Extra space encourages overtaking and unnecessary parking of vehicles. Instead, I feel that the footpaths should be widened to cater to the pedestrian traffic.
The existing road to the Satellite Shillong Township has been improved but is still not adequate. It must be upgraded to a multi-lane highway to efficiently support mass transport at high speed. Again, elevated roadway, through cuts, diversions, may have to be adopted so that we may reach the satellite township in about ten minutes, what with such prestigious institutions like the Legislative Assembly coming up there, and the Games Village also being proposed there.
The long term solution to the traffic congestion is development of more such satellite townships around Shillong, adopting the hub and spokes model. But let’s get cracking at the short term measures. What are the plans?

Yours, etc,

1. Ahmed,

Shillong-1