LONG: A day after a mock exercise was staged in Shillong and other parts of Meghalaya to test the alertness of agencies engaged in disaster management in the event of an earthquake, UDP Nongthymmai legislator Jemino Mawthoh raised concern in the Assembly on Tuesday over the lack of urban planning and management.
“There is a serious apprehension over the present state of affairs in the urban planning and management in the State. The situation in Shillong city is worsening with each passing day,” Mawthoh said while moving a motion on the impending danger of urban collapse in Meghalaya.
He said the mock drill organized by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in various stations of Shillong city was a wake-up call for the people who were residing in the urban areas of the State.
Recalling that the earthquake of 1897 which had recorded 8.7 on the Richter scale had a total of 1,542 casualties, Mawthoh said that if an earthquake of similar intensity struck again, the impact would be for anyone to imagine. The danger was more since the State fell under Zone V, which is highly seismic zone.
The UDP legislator also pointed out that the urban congestion has created a lot of inconvenience among the people residing in the urban areas even as the vehicular traffic had reach a saturation point since there was no scope of widening of roads. Mawthoh also observed that the mushrooming of private schools without any proper regulation was another major problem which the city was facing even as the violation of the building bye-laws had made the urban centres in the State highly vulnerable.
He also pointed there was a huge gap in terms of demand of urban services and infrastructures. “The urban population is facing with the problem of water scarcity. We have seen water pipes are being laid in various parts of the city. But still there is repeated complaint from the people about the problem of water scarcity,” the UDP legislator said. He said the city also lacks proper sewerage system.
He also raised the issue of lack of synchronization among various Government departments to implement various developmental schemes which indicated that there was a lot problem in terms of city development and urban infrastructures.
The UDP legislator also questioned that the developmental programmes were taking place only within the jurisdiction of the municipal areas like Police Bazaar and Laitumkhrah.
“The Shillong Urban conglomeration is deprived of such developmental programmes which is really sad. I personally feel that the developmental cannot take place only in a specific area,” Mawthoh said.
