Letters to THE EDITOR: City’s Worsened Drainage System

City’s worsened drainage system

The news article 'Unplanned & outdated drainage system drains out state coffers' published in your esteemed daily on March 19 has drawn readers' sharp attention. It is a normal exercise for the state government to spend a huge amount of money to clear the clogged drains across the city just before the onset of the monsoon season. But, sadly, the authorities at the helm of affairs never try to realize that activities like rapid urbanization, inadequate infrastructure, ageing drains and rampant earth-cutting on hills lead to clogging of drains, affecting the water discharging capacity of the drains and rivulets to the Brahmaputra, resulting in artificial flooding in Guwahati. Surprisingly, what authorities are doing is raising the height of the roads and bye-lanes in areas that experience the problems of waterlogging. This unscientific measure, which may be called a serious blunder, has aggravated the problem, as waterlogging will now affect newer areas there. Residents of Rukminigaon, Hatigaon, Beltola, Survey, etc., who never felt this problem, are now facing waterlogging due to the main roads raising up to the levels of the footpaths. Today, one can see only authorities digging roads and clearing drains, but the question arises: will it mitigate the actual problem? The first need is to clear the rivulets passing through the city, like Bharalu, Bahini, Morabharalu, Basistha, Lakhimijaan, Bundajaan, Khonajan, Kalimoni, etc., as these rivulets carry the entire load of the city's drain water to the Brahmaputra. The unplanned construction of flyovers is going on, but authorities have no time to see the drainage system of the service roads of flyovers, which causes waterlogging. What authorities need to do is the fixation of area-specific heights of the plinth levels in the newly urbanised areas, as differences in plinth levels affect free passage of water during the monsoon. Concretisation of most of the open spaces forces rainwater to run away horizontally without any vertical absorption. Just clearing grass and other aquatic plants from the side of the rivulets without dredging them and just taking out deposited silt and plastic materials in a shoddy way, without engineers and supervisors present at the site, we cannot make the flood-free mission successful. Unless the authorities adopt a comprehensive and effective drainage plan for either an underground drainage system or widening of the existing drains with deep cleaning in a scientific way, the problem of Guwahati waterlogging will remain aggravated.

Iqbal Saikia,

Guwahati.

From Champions Trophy to IPL

From the ICC Champions Trophy finale in Dubai, now it is time for slam-bang IPL fever, which is gripping the entire nation. Going by the present trend, it appears as if India, not England, has become the Mecca of world cricket, where all the top-ranked players of the cricketing world, except our next-door neighbour Pakistan, are making a beeline to India to be a part of the IPL carnival. By participating in IPL, they will inflate their bank balance. The newcomers will get a golden chance to show their mettle to the cricketing world with the batting and bowling skills that will be under the scanner of international sports print and electronic media. IPL is a carnival where winners take it all.

Before parting, I feel sorry for our Pakistani cricketers, as they must have been watching the differences between the glamorous IPL and subdued PSL. It is like DAY and NIGHT.

Dr. Ashim Chowdhury,

Guwahati

Touchdown as a trailblazer

Sunita Williams' safe landing is a story of sorts, and the nine-month-long wait is over. Scientists and astronauts all were eager to see the touchdown after a long but expected delay after a snag in the system. Space exploration is about pushing the limits of human potential, daring to dream, and having the courage to turn those dreams into reality. Sunita Williams, a trailblazer and an icon, has exemplified this spirit throughout her career. There is no doubt about it. The grit and determination displayed by the two stranded astronauts and the team, which worked in retrieving them, is now history after a long, experienced struggle. Anyway, nothing succeeds like success. We are incredibly proud of all those who worked tirelessly to ensure their safe return. They have demonstrated what happens when precision meets passion and technology meets tenacity. It was a test of patience and perseverance and the will to succeed. Thus, Sunita Williams and the trained crew of 9 astronauts displayed courage and have once again shown us what perseverance truly means. Astronauts Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams and Barry ‘Butch’ Willmore have finally returned to Earth after their nine-month-long journey at the International Space Station (ISS). The two astronauts returned to Earth aboard SpaceX’s Dragon capsule and splashed off the Florida Coast in a successful and dedicated operation.

Jayanthy Subramaniam

(cksumpire@gmail.com)

Suni and Butch return to Earth

Glad to read that NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams returned to Earth on Tuesday, March 18, hitching a different ride home to close out a saga that began with a bungled test flight more than nine months ago. Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico in the early evening. Wilmore and Williams ended up spending 286 days in space, 278 days longer than anticipated when they launched. They circled Earth 4,576 times and travelled 121 million miles (195 million km). Wilmore and Williams' plight captured the world's attention, giving new meaning to the phrase 'stuck at work' and turning 'Butch and Suni' into household names. Wilmore and Williams quickly transitioned from guests to full-fledged station crew members, conducting experiments, fixing equipment and even spacewalking together. With 62 hours over nine spacewalks, Williams set a record: the most time spent spacewalking over a career among female astronauts.

Bhagwan Thadani

(bhagwan_thadani@yahoo.co.in)

Ramadan: The holy month of fasting for Muslims

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and Muslims all over the world fast during this month from sunrise till sunset. According to Muslims, Allah tells them in the Holy Quran, “O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may become righteous.” Unlike the Gregorian calendar, which uses the sun as its guide, the Islamic calendar uses the moon.

While the months in the Gregorian calendar usually have 30-31 days, months in the lunar calendar have 29-30 days. This might not seem like much of a difference, but having one or two fewer days in the month means having almost 10 days less than the Gregorian calendar each year. So, if a month falls on a certain day this year, next year that month falls on a day that is almost 10 days earlier than the previous year. These days add up, and after a few years, the month that fell in spring a few years ago now happens during the winter, and so on. Fasting is a very important spiritual exercise to seek forgiveness for our shortcomings and improve our conduct.

The Last Prophet (PBUH) said, “The five (daily) prayers and from one Juma prayer to the (next) Juma prayer and from Ramadan to Ramadan are expiations for the (sin) committed in between (their intervals), provided the major sins are not committed.”

Fasting is to be purely out of love for God and to thank Him for what He has blessed us with in our daily life.

Americans might see Santa Claus and think of winter, but you can’t do that with Ramadan.  There were many lunar calendars before the Gregorian calendar was discovered, and even though there has been tremendous pressure for Muslims to abandon their calendar, they refused to do so.

If Ramadan always falls in winter in the northern hemisphere and in summer in the southern hemisphere, then people in the southern hemisphere would be fasting a lot more than their counterparts in the north, and Ramadan would be more difficult for them. Because it changes, people in both hemispheres get to experience Ramadan in different seasons, making it all the more fair.

After abstaining from food and beverages from sunrise to sunset, Muslims usually eat a large meal after sunset. If a person is able to abstain from food and beverages for that much amount of time, he/she learns to control his/her desires and temptations and thus has greater self-control. Fasting is a shield; it will protect you from the fires of hell and prevent you from committing sins. At the end of Ramadan, Eid-ul-Fitr is celebrated with much enthusiasm and fervour.

Jubel D'Cruz

(jubeldcruz@yahoo.com)