Guwahati: As it looks like: Letters to The EDITOR

Guwahati: As it looks like

Guwahati is the largest urban area in Northeast India with a population well over a million. The Dispur capital complex has facilitated the growth of the southern areas of the city, starting from Ganeshguri all the way to the Panjabari area and beyond. There is also massive residential development taking place towards the east from the Zoo Road area till Hengrabari and Narengi.

This city is in the list of Smart Cities under the project of the Union Ministry of Urban Development. We must take steps first to solve the basic problems being faced by the Guwahatians.

The roads are too narrow and congested to support the number of vehicles plying on them, leading to severe traffic congestion during peak hours. The city still has open drains and many localities that face frequent power cuts and lack of proper water supply. Some of the 'posh' localities in the city are dependent on water tankers to bring in water from time to time. There is also lack of parking space in all prime localities of the city. Many streetlights on the main roads are also not functional. The city needs a lot of attention to improve its overall infrastructure.

Guwahati is also one of the fastest-growing cities in India and it is estimated that the Guwahati Metropolitan will house about 2.8 million residents by 2025. The female literacy rate of the State is still lagging behind at 88.5% against a male literacy rate of 94.4% and an overall literacy rate of 91.5%.

The manufacturing and petroleum sector does contribute a substantial share to the economy of the city, but we must also ensure that steps are taken towards a sustainable development. This must be the top most priority of the industrial giants operating here.

We have many centralized, private and international banks operating in the city as we move towards digitization and a cashless society, but not a large population knows how to deal without cash, either due to digital illiteracy or fear of cashless transactions leading to fraud.

The Lokpriya Gopinath International Airport situated at Borjhar, which is also the eleventh busiest airport in India in total passenger traffic, has some of the longest queues. The infrastructure is too poor for it to be called an international airport in comparison to the airports in other cities.

People from various parts of the state migrate to Guwahati in search of better employment opportunities and education which only adds to the overpopulated city beyond what it is built for.

Prices of commodities are increasing rapidly and these keep escalating due to which essentials such as poultry and fish have become unaffordable by some, in a place where fish forms an important part of the cuisine. Even truckers bringing in vegetables from other states have to pay a lot of money as tax at various check posts on their way to Guwahati from West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and even Meghalaya which adds to the prices charged from consumers. We are a city that still has a limited road network, problem of insurgency, limited delivery of basic services, flash floods, so on and so forth.

Guwahati, in order to become a smart city in true sense of the term, must first battle the unplanned population growth which the city has seen over the past few decades and deal with the socio-economic problems which may cause hindrance to its growth and transformation.

Rifa Deka,

Royal School of Communications and Media

Royal Global University, Guwahati