STWs lying idle for long 30 years!

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, July 4: Lack of political will leads to government installations lying idle for decades – no matter how important they are. Shallow tube wells (SWTs) in the State are some among them.

In 1987-88 when the AGP was in power in the State, a large number of STWs were installed in Guwahati. One such STW was installed at Ulubari, near the flyover by the then Guwahati Mayor who is currently a BJP leader, Queen Ojha. However, most of the STWs conked out after one-year-and-a-half to two years, and since then they have been lying idle. Their repair could have solved the scarcity of water in the city to a large extent. What is ridiculing is that the STWs have not been repaired for the past 30 years. What does it smack of?

For reasons best known to them, the AGP government did not repair the STWs. Then came the Congress and ruled the State for long 15 years. They too did not feel like repairing the STWs. And now a coalition government of the BJP-AGP-BPF is in power at Dispur. Even after a year of rule, it has not yet repaired the idle STWs in the city. Nobody knows if this government will ever repair the STWs.

In the past 30 years and now, potable water has been a scarce in many areas in the city. The State Government has utterly failed to meet the increasing demand of potable water in the city.

Talking to this reporter Prabin Chandra Baruah, near whose shop the STW at Ulubari was installed, said: “Most of the STWs in the city have been lying idle for 30 years. They went dry after one-year-and-a-half or two years of their installation. Maybe, the water table went down. However, their repair could’ve solved the problem of water scarcity in many areas in the city. When many people in the city have to use unsafe water being collected from water ponds and streams, for reasons best known to it the government isn’t repairing the STWs. It’s difficult to make out the reasons hidden behind.”