Guard walls stand off guard!

AZARA, Nov 18: The guard walls on either side of the Kha River linking Deepor Beel and the Brahmaputra have exposed laxity on the part of the State Water Resource Department. The two guard walls do not look ‘on guard’ to protect the target populace in the area from erosion, rather they look off guard in so far as security of the local people is concerned. 

The two guard walls are from the RCC Bridge on NH 39. The area has been under threat of being gobbled up by the river. The project was done under the active participation of West Guwahati MLA Ramendra rayan Kalita. However, it has come to light now that the work has been done shoddily. Profits being the sole motive, it is apparent that the project has suffered in its quality. At some stretches, the guard walls even pose threats to the local residents. 

In most of the stretches of the guard walls, their heights are not enough. They let water to inundate them, leading to floods in the adjacent areas. In many stretches, the contractors have left the work without going for any earth-filling. At some places, especially at Bamunorjan Path connecting it to NH 37, the road looks like a deathtrap with the main road being higher than the side of the guard wall by around five feet. It is fraught with risk for people to drive on the path. The stretch and many such stretches of the walls should have been earth-filled by the contractors. They have not even covered the base of the erected walls with earth.

The local people have now appealed to their local MLA RN Kalita to intervene into the matter so as to let the affected people get the benefits of the project.