Letters to the Editor: Strengthening the Indian Rupee

The Forex Reserves of India has declined by around $50 billion. It was around $642 billion at the end of October 2021 but declined to $593 billion by June 2022 end. This depreciated the Indian currency to Rs 79 per dollar. So the Indian government – to stabilize the Indian currency and arrest the outflow of funds– has increased the import duty on gold to 15% and also amended the FCRA provisions to allow Indians to receive upto Rs 10 lakh annually from relatives abroad which was initially Rs 1 lakh annually. It should decrease the current account deficit and strengthen the Indian Rupee bolstering our economy.

Siddharth Roy

Guwahati

Flash flood in Guwahati

Guwahati is flooded every year after a slight downpour. While people elsewhere romanticize the rain, it becomes a curse for the city dwellers. The recent spate of rains wreaked havoc in the city by disrupting the daily lives of the city residents. While people blame the government, the city dwellers are to be blamed for such flash floods. One of the primary causes of flash floods in the city is clogged drains and irresponsible waste disposal practices.

Bharalu, the only river that flows through Guwahati, has been reduced to a garbage dumping ground by the residents of the city. Naturally, Bharalu fails in carrying out the excess water to Brahmaputra, thereby causing flash floods in the city.

There is certainly a role for the government too in this regard. The government should take measures to clean the dustbins and drains in a timely manner. In this regard, the government can follow the example of South Korea and other developed countries. In Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has adopted the Ecube Labs model. Ecube is a smart waste management system and managers of Public Cleanliness Department utilized Clean City Network (CCN) to monitor the status and fill level of Clean Cubes and observes the collection efficiency throughout Seoul. In 2014, they installed 85 Clean Cube bins in the city for general waste and recyclable items and banned the single use of plastics in these bins. Within a span of three months, Seoul saw a great improvement in public sanitation. Overpopulation and encroachment of the wetlands have only added to the woes of the people. It is high time people mended their ways of waste disposal. The government should also work on the feasibility of applying models which have met with success in other countries.

Rimakshi Barman

Cotton University