(Rain) God helps those who help themselves

Water threat to airport runway

Our Bureau

MIRZA/AZARA, Sept 23: God, as they say, helps those who help themselves. And the Rain God is not different! This phrase certainly emphasizes the importance of self-initiative and humanistic philosophy. Does this phrase have any takers at Dispur?

Let facts speak for themselves. The runway of the Lokapriya Gopith Bordoloi Intertiol (LGBI) Airport is at stake. Though the runway is yet to be under water, it certainly will sooner than later if the entire draige system around the airport is taken care of urgently. The taxi stand in the airport complex was under one-foot-deep water today due to the incessant rains since last night. People going to the airport today had a harrowing time. The main problem in the area, according to the local populace, is that the width of the drains there is very small, and the drains mostly remain clogged. The Kalmani, a rivulet that carries away waters from the area, has also lost its water carrying capacity to a great extent as it is also choked with garbage here and there. The rivulet does not flow at its usual speed, and the situation of waterlogging in the area will be hellish if urgent steps are not taken soon.   

The project of a draige system that is supposed to bail out the people from waterlogging in the area has been lying limbo. The proposed draige system from near the Air Force Gate to the Brahmaputra via Dekapara, Airport, SOS Village and Mirzapur has been lying half-constructed.

Till the filing of this report the runway of the airport was safe, but if there is more rainfall the runway coming under water cannot be ruled out. The villages in Guwahati West LAC that had to bear the brunt of waterlogging in the area today are Boripara, Kalitapara, Hatkhowapara, Dekapara, Jogipara etc. In Palasbari LAC, the areas that had a harrowing time today due to waterlogging are Rangamati, a stretch of the Batuhat-Rangamati main road, Satpokhuli etc.