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Govt accused of insincerity in solving problems

By Staff Reporter - 15 Sep 2010 12:00 AM GMT

GUWAHATI, April 20 � Lack of sincerity on the part of the Government is primarily responsible for the sufferings of the people of Guwahati city in artificial floods and water-logging, alleged voluntary organization Save Guwahati Build Guwahati (SGBG).

President of the SGBG Dhiren Baruah alleged that the district administration, Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) and the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) totally failed to play their parts to mitigate the sufferings of the people of Guwahati. He said that though Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi holds meetings from time to time on various problems facing Guwahati, nothing is implemented on the ground, which raised doubts on the sincerity of the Government in dealing with the problems.

Referring to the sufferings of the people in the last three days, Baruah said that the Government must take some drastic steps to deal with the problem of artificial floods. Taking of such steps may affect around five thousand people but will reduce the sufferings of 15 lakh people, he added.

The SGBG president said that the Government must evict the encroachers from the natural water bodies including Solabeel immediately. He pointed out that only making legislations for protection of the water bodies would not serve any purpose and immediate effective steps must be taken to clear the encroachments and increase the water carrying capacity of the water bodies. The ban on cutting of the hills should be strictly enforced by the administration, he said.

Baruah alleged that the failure to keep the drains clean added to the woes of the citizens. He said that the GMC or the GMDA totally failed in their duties to clean the drains at least once a week as the problem of water logging increased because of the clogged drains. He said that despite repeated demands, the water carrying capacity of the culverts has not been increased, which also added to the problem.

The SGBG demanded that the Government must chalk out a detail plan to deal with the problem of water logging and take effective steps in this regard as only holding of meetings from time to time would not serve any purpose. The Government claims that Guwahati is the gateway to the North East, but unfortunately, so far, no plan has been chalked out to solve the burning problems of the city, he lamented.