By Jenniefer Dkhar
A letter by Ekramul Haque dated July 18, 2025 made me go back to a write-up Shillong, The Smart City Project & The Main Stakeholder, The Public by Toki Blah (ST April 25, 2025) and the Shillong DDK panel discussion, aired on April 18, 2025: “DDK Straight Talk: Shillong Smart City – grand vision and ground reality”. Toki Blah highlighted a sense of disappointment and anger felt by him as an elderly person, who has seen how Shillong emerged from a serene hill station to one that is moving towards a state of apathy, indifference and disinterestedness. The panelists in the panel discussion provided the listeners with a lot of information about what do words like Smart City mean. Once in the project, to realise the aims and goals of a Smart City is a must but it must be kept in mind that the project must be well suited for the convenience of the citizens. Here, I would agree with Toki Blah and Aiban Mawkhroh’s summation and belief that a smart city should be one that listens to its people and citizens, after all they are the stakeholders.
As a lay person, I share my unhappiness with the way things are happening in our beautiful city and the entire state for the people of the state matter whether they are settled in Shillong or even in the rural areas. As for the Smart City Project the question in mind is how far have we progressed?
As an ordinary citizen I wish to share the dilemma and distress that we the common people are subjected to on a daily basis. To start with, the common people have to brave the challenges of traffic jams be it during school hours or even otherwise. We are rarely blessed with a smooth ride any day, especially on a working day. A distance of 3-4 kms will have to be covered in no less than an hour and on reaching your destination you are made to face another challenge of where to park your vehicle.
Granted that owning a vehicle in the past was a luxury that was then transformed into a necessity but today it is no less than a burden. Where can you park? How concerned are those in the helm of affairs? Not as long as they do not step into our shoes and experience our daily ordeal! For them there is no traffic jam for a siren is enough to clear their way. They have no worries about finding a place to park because for them the harassment of finding a place to park or their vehicles being clamped is never an issue. Park anywhere who dares punish them. After all they are the law makers turned law breakers!
As citizens we deserve pavements and sidewalks. No one enjoys the prospect of rubbing shoulders with vehicles and the wares of the hawkers. Be it Iewduh, Motphran, Police Bazar, Civil Hospital, Laitumkhrah, etc., our pavements are no longer free and safe space for us to walk but one that will force us to either squeeze our way through or hop onto the road and tread carefully or be hit by speeding vehicles or rash riders. Hawkers are everywhere: pavements, outside shops, nooks and corners, at times even on the road. There seems to be no respite to the number of hawkers as they are on the increase setting up shops unabashedly and carefree about the inconvenience caused to fellow citizens. How easy and convenient it is for they don’t need to pay rent but can simply start with a small thermocol carton that could transform itself into something bigger and more permanent. The need of the hour is a hawking zone for them to carry out their business, without being disturbed or them disturbing others. However, the government must find hawking zones for the hawkers in other areas as well. As of today, we look forward to having a more relaxed walk around Khyndai Lad with the relocation of the hawkers but of course at various parking lots. Well Parking Lots should be for parking and not be mixed up with hawking zones when there is space constraint. Chargeable street parking is being initiated by the government but it may not be a solution as new vehicles are hitting the road on a daily basis while the size of the roads remain the same.
The state lacks proper health care that makes many throng to hospitals outside the state. We usually rush to hospitals in Guwahati for treatment because our state has no proper healthcare. If the scenario in Shillong is grim, imagine the condition of the PHCs and CHCs in the rural areas. This is one sector that needs to be addressed in a more urgent and sincere manner. After all, besides everything else, health is the most important in a human being’s life.
Ours is a beautiful hill station that today is getting recognized for its scenic beauty with tourists from within the country and outside visiting but the sanitary conditions are getting worse. Sanitary drainage systems that should be built to help maintain cleanliness and sanitation are now making way for water clogging. The roads of Shillong that had never experienced poor drainage system are now experiencing poor drainage when it rains. The slush and the filth and dirt are glaring examples of poor management of proper drainage system. True to what Toki Blah says, the rivers are now sewers. Gone are the days when the Wah Umkhrah that one read in the Khasi books in school was more pristine and crystal clear where we could actually see the small fish (shalynnai) swimming.
The Smart City concept is not a feasible concept as long as the common good of the people of the state is not kept in mind. If projects are initiated and abandoned and are left unattended then the purpose of even initiating such a move is meaningless. Thus, to achieve the target of a Smart City our state is still way off target. When the people of the state are not considered in spite of being stakeholders there will always be loopholes and blemishes. While the government is hoping for a Smart City the truth is we are far from achieving and fulfilling basic needs of the people. The attempt of enhancing and strengthening infrastructure for the comfort and convenience of its people is a mere farce for reality speaks otherwise. When ordinary citizens are brought face to face with difficulties, dilemmas and distress in their day to day lives that is a failure of governance and the collective failure of those we voted for.