The road to dental college stinks

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, March 23: The road hell is paved with good intentions – it is lack good work that makes it so. This saying fits like a glove with a number of measures, including the garbage piling site near the Regiol Dental College and Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) morgue at Bhangagarh in the city.

Garbage from the nearby areas in Guwahati is piled at this spot to evacuate it from time to time for disposal. However, shoddy garbage evacuation work is notorious for making the dental college road a real ‘road to hell’. All people passing by this road would like to have stuffy noses to rid of the filthy smell.  

“The problem of improper garbage evacuation, making the place a veritable stink bomb, has been severe for the past one year and a half since when small NGOs have come at the helm of garbage disposal,” a shopkeeper doing business in the area said.     

He also said: “We’ve been accustomed with the stench of waste materials since we’ve to spend day in, day out here to eke out our living. Even the students of the dental college here are a worried lot. They keep complaining for this problem, but to no avail. People can’t stand here for a minute or two to talk to anyone. They are seen putting their fingers on the noses or cover their noses with hankies. Whoever passes by this road is seen in a tearing hurry so as to get rid of stench being emitted from the garbage pile.”

This, according to the shopkeeper, is not the only problem at that site. “The morgue near the site is also hazardous. When bodies are carried to it, some materials like cotton and other wastes are left nearby, without disposing them properly. How dangerous is medical waste for health needs no explation,” he said.

When asked, a lady passing by the road said: “We don’t have patience to stand and talk to anyone here. We have to pass by this road as we’ve no viable altertive. We’re scared of when our children pass by this road. We apprehend that they may fall ill. There’s none in the administration to know our plight. If any VIP happens to pass by this road, his/her empirical sense may do something for us. Our demands continue to fall on their deaf ears.”

A few students of the dental college, when asked, said: “We’re fed up now, lodging complaints after complaints. The authorities concerned don’t like to pay any heed to know the problem we’ve to face every now and then.”