Editor,
I was reading the report, “No NOC for railhead” (ST Dec 27, 2020) and am amused at an institution that’s literally on its last legs as far as resources from the formal/legal sectors is concerned has to put spokes in the wheels of development even as they happily allow cement companies and limestone by the millions of tonnes to be mined, at great cost to the environment. There’s something very wrong with the kind of people being elected both to the state legislature and the district councils. They are at best people with commercial interests but will not allow anything above board to happen. A report on the same day speaks about the illegal toll/check gates set up by the Councils which we are all aware are for the purpose of collecting money and not about checking illegal consignments of timber cut from the forests under the watch of the ADCs. Anyone who travels on the Jowai-Shillong-Guwahati road or the Nongstoin-Shillong-Guwahati road will not fail to see pine trees whose girth does not meet the specifications set up the State Forest Department, being carted daily with no bothered to take action because the only interest is so collect, collect and collect. The ADCs are like buckets with holes. They are never satiated and will never be until the last tree has been brought down and nothing more is left to cut. It’s also a stark irony that the State Forest Department with a clutch of officers and guards only control 4% of the forests in the state. And these same people are supposed to be the custodians of our customs and traditions! What a farce!
The railways have come to Garo Hills and brought in much ease in transportation of goods and humans but in the Khasi Hills it’s a ‘No’ ‘No’ to every idea of development. Those who produce goods that are exportable often find the transportation cost higher than the production cost. How long will this negativity persist and people keep quiet? What Meghalaya needs right now is a revolution by right thinking youth who are looking at entrepreneurship and not government service as their future. For too long we have allowed our fates to be decided by a bunch of self-seeking politicians and wannabe politicians under the guise of pressure groups. These two groups of vested interests are hell bent on keeping Meghalaya at subsistence level forever while they have shamelessly accumulated personal wealth not just for one generation for the second and third generation as well.
Every year we faithfully read about the Lukha River turning blue. Some say it’s due to acid mine drainage; others claim that it is due to effluents from cement companies. Till date there is no definite report about the actual cause although NEHU seems to have done some studies. Whatever it is, it shows that the state and its government don’t care what happens to our rivers and streams and will continue coal mining to carry on unabated the way it is being done – the rat hole mining variety and no one can do a thing about it. The rule of the jungle prevails and lawlessness is the order of the day in this state. And the public silently acquiesces in all this venality. Who will save Meghalaya from itself?
Yours etc.,
RK Kharmawlong,
Via email
U Thlen in our midst
Editor,
It’s shocking that the HNLC should make allegations on social media and in the local media of misuse of power, corruption and scam after scam naming politicians in the MDA government. The Khasi Thlen is now alive and kicking in the government. The Thlen thrives on the blood of its own people and that’s what it is feeding on now – the blood of the weak, the powerless and the poor. The Deputy Chief Minister had made a feeble defence of these allegations but the allegations call for a deeper enquiry by the Central Investigation Agencies. The break-up of Rs 399 crore for Covid expenses has not yet been put up in the public domain. Hence we the public must not shy away from asking straight and incisive questions about the state of our economy and finances. We often tend to remain silent or to ignore allegations of corruption and to take it as an ‘accepted’ trend. This is going to destroy the state because of the thriving black money transactions. It is laughable that some of these corrupt politicians occupy the front seats in any religious gathering. Now the poor are getting poorer; the teachers are not paid their dues; muster roll workers are on strike and government employees not paid their DA; the MDA government has plunged Meghalaya into an abyss. This coalition government is best described as a ‘Coalition of Unscrupulous Politicians’.
A directionless government with zero investment and failing governance is having a very negative effect on our state. If there is no immediate course correction we are staring at a Financial Emergency anytime soon.
Yours etc..
Dominic Stadlin Wankhar
Shillong-3