Garo Hills residents complain against discontinuation of BSNL messaging service
TURA, June 7 - Local residents have been irked by the BSNL�s decision to stop its messaging service in the Garo Hills region. Meanwhile, there has been a network outage in the entire South Garo Hills area for about a week now.
The SMS service was discontinued in the Khasi-Jaintia region after the flare-up in Shillong. But the decision to stop the service in the Garo Hills has not gone down well with the mobile subscribers.
The matter came to light after some BSNL users posted their grievances on the social media after the discontinuation of the SMS service and sought a solution from the CMO, Meghalaya.
�Most of my online payments are linked to the BSNL number. I have not been able to clear my pending bills or even recharge my phone due to the sudden stoppage of the SMS service,� said one of the respondents online.
Another complainant stated that paying GST had become a problem due to the stoppage of the service.
�We do not know what needs to be done. The authorities concerned need to address the issue quickly so that the people in the Garo Hills can access the normal BSNL service,� said another respondent.
Bid to check littering of tourist spots: In the wake of public complaints about rampant littering in tourist and picnic spots, the Deputy Commissioner of West Garo Hills, Ram Singh, has asked BDOs to identify and hand over these places to self-help groups (SHGs) for maintenance.
Various picnic spots, including Chibagre and the Eco Park at Ganol, have borne the brunt of such defilement. The ISBT at Chasingre on the outskirts of Tura is also littered by miscreants who go there for drinking bouts.
�It has been observed that most picnic spots in the district are littered with garbage, bottles and plastic waste by youths who throng there in an inebriated state. As such, all Block Development Officers are hereby directed to identify these picnic spots and hand over the same to SHGs or local development committees nominated by the Nokmas in association with the Village Sanitation and Water Committee,� said Singh in his order.
The DC further allowed the committees to charge a nominal amount to ensure maintenance of these spots as well as impose fines on those guilty of littering.
The step taken by the DC has been widely appreciated. �This is a good move. We are not even able to take visitors from outside to these spots due to the excessive litter. Things will hopefully get better and more streamlined after the intervention of the district administration,� said AM Marak, a resident of Tura.
