Editor,
Apropos of Dr. H.S. Ranhotra’s suggestion on traffic congestion in Shillong(ST Aug 18, 2022) it is really sad to say that the Government has not taken up any plans to ease the traffic woes in Shillong. The traffic regulation was entrusted only to the police. What are the MLAs, Ministers as public representatives doing? Are they not responsible for all the traffic woes in Shillong? Since these VIPs have no personal problems to move around themselves, they don’t really care about the sufferings of the public due to the traffic menace. What are they doing in the Assembly? Are they not to debate and find out ways and means on how to solve the traffic problems in Shillong? Are they not also responsible for the state of affairs of the State? Are they not elected as public representatives to see that the public are not suffering due to traffic congestion among others? As public representatives, they should have worked out a plan on solving the problems created by the increasing number of vehicles both private and commercial. The Govt. should make a law to ease the traffic flow in Shillong. They are sitting in the Assembly for the purpose of making a law for the welfare of the State and its people. If the Government cannot do it then who will be able to do it?
So far, no NGOs have debated on the traffic snarl in Shillong. The public are suffering every day, school-going children, the office goers and the needy, especially the sick are suffering due to lack of will of the Govt. to take strict action to solve the traffic woes in Shillong. For what purpose are they being elected? Are they not responsible for the everyday traffic affairs in Shillong? The State has completed 50 years of statehood, but the conditions of the roads are the same even now. No change has been attempted by governments past and present on tackling the traffic condition of Shillong. And we all seem happy to silently suffer the pain even though we are facing daily problems in congested roads that take us so long to traverse. When shall we see the change?
Yours, etc.
I.R. Dkhar
Shillong
Shillong’s stubborn traffic jams
Editor,
I fully agree with the letter in your esteemed daily dated Aug 17, 2022 by Emidao Shylla, captioned “Traffic Congestion, who’s at fault.” As pointed out by the writer, we the general public are equally at fault. Nowadays, every parent prefers to pick and drop their children and wards to school and with loans readily available, many prefer to go to work in their private vehicles. Well, vehicles are becoming a necessity not so much a luxury but the one big problem that is constant is that while the number of vehicles are increasing the roads are still as narrow as before. To add up, pavements and even roadsides are being taken over by the hawkers who could set up shops and display their wares just about anywhere, unabashedly. Are we to blame the hawkers or governments past and present who fail to allot a space for the hawkers to do their business?
One agrees with the writer, on the route that the buses should be allowed to start from Motphran enroute to Laitumkhrah, Nongthymmai via Police Bazar, IGP, Barik. This way the buses can pick up school and college goers and even office goers etc. Closing this road to public transport has added up to the misery of the people who would like to use such public transport. A trial basis could perhaps be carried out to see if it will help. May one also urge those in authority managing the traffic routes to seek suggestions from stakeholders, who are working at the ground level in order to reap beneficial results.
In order to ease traffic congestion that more than often has been attributed to school timings, can every school start a school bus facility of their own to ferry the children of their schools back and forth? A school bus that will accommodate 40 students, will definitely save parking space of let’s say 30 private vehicles. Many parents may express fear and concern about the safety of their children inside these public transports. This is a genuine concern but if the school bus is one that belongs to the respective schools or is hired by the school then it would be the responsibility of the school to employ and engage a responsible person who would be provided a uniform and an identity card who will cater to the children’s safety.
In conversation with parents who are open to sending their children to school in school buses, I found out that these very parents express their apprehension in sending their children through buses run by the government wherein children from different schools would be accommodated. They feel that school buses owned by the school where children from the same school only would use with the school authority managing and taking responsibility for the children would be a safer and more secure form of transportation.
Traffic congestion is faced by the common man on a daily basis. It is our responsibility and the duty of the government to find out ways and means to sort this out.
Yours etc.,
Jenniefer Dkhar,
Via email
Mall at MTC campus a harsh decision
Editor,
It’s become big news regarding the present MTC complex at Police Bazar being turned into a mall which presently, I believe is not genuinely required by the people of Meghalaya. It will do more harm than good for the business community , as most of the malls in Shillong are a failure due to very few footfalls, apart from creating more competition. Government should instead invest the money in more important matters, like roads , hospitals, engineering and medical colleges and other infrastructure through which youth could be employed. The Government shouldn’t take such a harsh decision of evicting old tenants whose families and staff are dependent on the business in MTC for decades just to please some private company. What’s the point in voting for a government which is not sensitive towards people’s livelihoods and only favours a few of the elite? The Government’s duty and responsibility is to see that no citizen should suffer unnecessarily. Further there’s ample space in the MTC compound where the Government can do additional construction without evicting old tenants.
Yours etc.,
Justic Roy,
Shillong 2
On celebration of Independence Day
Editor,
The article by D V Kumar (ST August 21 2022) has raised some issues in my mind in the context of celebration of Independence Day. India attained freedom from British rule on August 15, 1947 but not before undivided India was being divided into two countries – India and Pakistan. Nehru and Jinnah thus created two separate countries. Lakhs of people were suddenly homeless, thousands were butchered , women were raped, children were crushed to death! Indians never knew the term “refugee.” The partition taught us this word and lakhs of refugees were “born.” They started migrating to both sides. Their settlements are still issues of concern in our country after 75 years of Independence.
People from both India and Pakistan believe that Nehru and Jinnah gave them freedom. In India especially, people are slowly realizing that it was not just Gandhi and Nehru who brought Independence. In 1946 the British Parliament discussed whether they would leave India with grace or be thrown out by Indians. Naturally they opted for the first choice. The British sensed a mutiny brewing in the Indian Armed Forces after INA knocked on the eastern borders of India.
Sometimes I wonder how the British ruled us for 200 years ! There are 50 or more countries around the world that celebrate their Independence day every year because they were under colonial rule for long periods, but do we know why some ancient rulers and their countries do not celebrate such days? ?
Yours etc.,
Anjan Kr Das,
Shillong -6