Editor,
I am writing to you to inform you about the rise of theft cases in Shillong. On the morning of Saturday June 10, 2023, between 5- 5.45 AM a thief had entered a house at Upper New Colony, Shillong ( footage available on CCTV). The thief ransacked the house and got away with a few items from the house, (FIR has been filed). Amazingly, he also came the following day and the day after to the same property. We managed to nab the thief on the third day and handed him over to the police.
What is shocking about this incident is the audacity of the thief to revisit the crime scene repeatedly. How is this possible? And how can a city like Shillong be so unsafe? Despite the fact that many robberies are occurring in the city, the police have not sent any patrolling team to the affected localities. A simple patrol team in the locality would have created confidence in the residents. Patrolling between 12 am to 6 am would be very helpful and make the residents feel much safer and we can all sleep without having to worry about who is going to break into our houses .
Yours etc.,
D.Basaiawmoit,
Via email
Government should implement the plastic ban
Editor
Only last week all the countries of the world celebrated World Environment Day. In Meghalaya it was observed with great enthusiasm and pledges were made by all who celebrated this auspicious day. But what is the net result so far after now that 10 days have passed. The use of plastics (single use bags) and water bottles carries on as usual and no action by the administration is forthcoming. The Hon’ble Chief Minister said that the ban on plastics will be taken up in letter and spirit and the source of supply will be closed. But this is yet to take effect as the use of plastics is carrying on unabated. We are grateful to the Operation Clean-up team along with other groups that are consistently cleaning up rivers. Their efforts are praiseworthy. But those residing on the banks are polluting the river by directly discharging their septic tanks and all the garbage into the river. Even people from other areas find it convenient to throw their garbage in the nearby rivers. There has to be some stringent measures to be taken up by the Government such as imposing heavy fines on the persons who commit these polluting acts.
Now the World Bank is granting funds to the KHADC for undertaking river clean up and also to address other areas of concern. But it will be an exercise in futility as previously quite a good amount was given by the Government to the KHADC for the same purpose but no concrete results have been noted and the money was a sheer waste. Let us see how the grant of a substantial amount which is being allotted by the World Bank is going to be used. Apart from being accountable for the funds the District Councils will also have to show positive results this time.
We understand that the Government is burdened with a lot of projects which require attention according to priorities and pollution control is something that needs immediate action and redressal. In the past a number of articles and letters have been written on this issue and they have appeared in the local dailies. I don’t know how much weight this letter of mine will carry but I write as a concerned citizen and with the hope that it will be taken seriously.
Yours etc.,
S.L. Singhania,
Via email
Poor garbage management system
Editor,
This is with respect to the garbage management and collection in the city. The garbage collection trucks reach the localities to collect garbage at 11 am -12 pm during the day rather than in the early morning hours.
People have to adjust their daily routines in a manner where they have to spend several hours to dispose of their garbage, as the collectors in the trucks take their own sweet time to collect each bag and sort the garbage in each bag before they collect the next. As a result there are long queues all over the main road, thereby displaying a pathetic picture to tourists and members of the public passing by, just how carelessly the government handles the entire garbage management system.
Garbage sorting has to be carried out in the composting plant after collection. Smaller vehicles such as autos can be sent to each locality to collect garbage and the autos can take the garbage to the nearest allocated truck in the area while the trucks take the waste to the compost plant rather than people carrying all the garbage from a particular area and standing in the main road behind the trucks as if the city is some sort of refugee camp.
The irony is that many people pass through such queues and they include government officials and department heads and yet they fail to notice how garbage collection is managed in other states and so fix the problem here. But they just remain incompetent and don’t care about managing anything in their own state.
Hence every small problem in the state ends up as a huge problem later because there is no 5- year or 10-year plan taking into account the population increase. The whole purpose of planning is to anticipate problems before they occur and have a plan on how to manage that problem. But here the public have to waste their time only because of the ignorance and carelessness of the government. No wonder the State of Meghalaya is not progressing as it should and its economic growth is sluggish. I would suggest that the government should first try to solve the city’s tiny problems such as garbage management and traffic management by putting their privileged employees to actually work and take responsibility and to ensure that they show outcomes for the salary they take home every month. Government employees and public representatives should be competent persons. They cannot reach the offices at 11 am, gossip all day and move insignificant files just to show they have done something.
The government should send out a strong message to all its employees, that if they don’t produce outcomes and are not resourceful handling their work they should be terminated and other more deserving people must be given the opportunity for public service, otherwise if Government is filled with ignorant and careless people then in the next 10-15 years our children and the grandchildren will suffer on account of the state being a laggard because their ancestors did not do their bit or give their best.
Yours etc.,
Nithin R Krishnan,
Via email