Citizens to agitate against deteriorating Civic Services in Silchar

Special Correspondent

Silchar: Social activists under the banner of “Pragatishil Pour Parishad” (Progressive Civic Body) of Silchar articulating the concern of citizens against deteriorating civic services have decided to launch an agitation against Silchar Municipal Board, calling it incompetent and inefficient. Addressing the meet at a private conference hall here, Suman Sarathi Endaw, a frontline activist said, ever since the present BJP- controlled municipal board took over the responsibility in 2014, the civic services in all respects have seen a nosedive. Taxpayers have to suffer a lot.

The municipal board, town and country planning, PHE and urban water supply and sewerage board should have worked in a coordinated manner to improve the services to citizens. Instead, the water being supplied is contaminated and unsafe for consumption. Chemicals are used insufficiently, which is causing stomach disorder and other intestine diseases. Moreover, the quantity of water supplied is also inadequate for 95000 families residing in the town. Every day 100 mt of wastes and garbage are disposed of unscientifically despite the fact at a huge cost, SLRM (Solid Liquid Resource Management) centre has been opened.

Pramathesh Das, the founder member, alleged that drains are not being cleaned properly and garbage accumulates here and there for days, giving out abominable smell and center of germs with harmful effects on human health and hygiene. Footpaths are being encroached by businessmen, creating obstructions on the movement of pedestrians. There is no attempt to remove them. There is virtually chaos on roads with haphazard and illegal parking by all sorts of vehicles. Apart from that, waterlogging of different areas during monsoon has become a common feature that brings normal life to a halt.

Kishore Kumar Bhattacharjee, another activist, said when there is cry worldwide to save nature and greenery, Silchar Municipal Board has planned to build a market complex on the only open space of historic Gandhi Bag, axing trees and plants, the elixir of life and the source of oxygen. He quoted a report of the Canada based organization on the environment which recommended more and more plantation of trees to save ecology and human life as a man needs 59 kg of oxygen every year. Silchar, now a concrete jungle, needs more oxygen, but the tragedy is that trees are being fell to make room for more multi-complex.

Bhattacharjee said a look around the roads of this town will give the impression there is nothing like traffic management. The traffic snarl and jam create problems in the movement of vehicles including emergency services. There is a traffic advisory body which sits once or twice in a year. That is enough. Everything is back to square one. Others who outlined their views included Arun Dutta Mazumdar, Misbahul Islam Laskar, Ranjit Roy, Niladri Roy among others.

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