How much the GMC authorities care for the well-being of city dwellers is evident from this picture which shows a footpath with uncovered manhole. The Sentinel photo.

Incinerators worth Rs 35 lakh lying idle

GUWAHATI, March 15: Even as waste materials from the three medical college hospitals in the state are finding their way into municipality drains and the Brahmaputra, creating serious health hazards, three incinerators procured by the Assam government at a cost of Rs 35.02 lakh for these three colleges, violating financial discipline, have remained unused since its installation in 1996. [NED]

Goalpara Municipality in dire straits GOALPARA, May 8: With the salaries of the employees of Goalpara municipality kept pending for an unbelievably long period of 21 months, and the no-confidence motion passed against its chairpersons for her various alleged Comissions and misdeeds, contempt of court proceedings being drawn up by the Gauhati High Court against the State Government and the Board for wilful disobedience of the High Court's order of 1.6.99 to pay pension to the employees of the Board, and with a most irresponsible and non-responsive municipal administration (MAD) of the State Government, whose sole business is to keep silent to endless entreaties, queries on problems besetting the municipality and with a equally lackadaisical successive district administration, Goalpara municipality, the second oldest municipality of Assam is now in deep mess with no relief in sight in the near future, it is learnt. [S]

City deluged by showers, master plan gathers dust

GUWAHATI, June 29: This is a story of a water supply, sewerage and drainage masterplan for Guwahati. It was prepared with a time frame of 30 years for implementation in three phases and after two years' meticulous study of the related problems and topographical features of Guwahati. About 29 years after submission of this masterplan, Guwahati, now the capital city of Assam, is reeling under storm water, sewage and silt during the rainy days, while it continues to cry hoarse for drinking water during the dry season. For, the masterplan has remained on paper! [AT]

A pedestrian is being helped from a manhole near Chandmari, Guwahati on July 4. Asomiya Pratidin photo.

GMC neglects Adabari bus stand, commuters suffer

GUWAHATI, Aug 9: It seems the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has washed its hands off the affairs of the Adabari bus stand in the city unmindful of the plight of thousands of travellers using the stand daily. To begin with the entire bus stand has only a single shade for benefit of the waiting travellers as all other six of them were destroyed in a storm about two years back. Though during winters it is not much of a problem, in the summers this becomes a major consternation for travellers. This bus stand caters to more than 20,000 travellers on any given day and plays host to about 400 long-distance buses in addition to about 250/300 city buses. [AT]

Municipal board employees demand salaries, resort to strike

KARIMGANJ, Aug 12: Indefinite strike resorted to by the employees of Karimganj Municipal Board since July 26 has badly affected the works of the board causing lot of suffering to the people of the town. The employees, under the banner of Karimganj Municipal Employees Association, have been demanding release of their salaries which the board failed to pay for last six months. Some of the employees have been deprived of their salaries for last 12 to 16 months also. [S]

CPI members demonstrating in front of the office of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation demanding solution for artificial floods in the city, and to supply potable water. Asomiya Pratidin photo.

Menace of garbage dumping

GUWAHATI, Aug 17: Garbage collection and removal in the city has virtually collapsed of late for a battery of factors, the prime being the apathetic and bankrupt status of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC), primarily responsible for the task. GMC with its skeleton of a fleet of old and battered trucks are carrying out the job trying to deposit the garbage wherever it could manage a spot for the purpose, irrespective of inconveniences to the local public. [AT]

'Do Not Walk in Guwahati' Going by the condition of the Guwahati streets, the tacit message sent out by our administrative and municipal authorities, our planners and our engineers is that people are not supposed to walk on the streets of Guwahati. Quite apart from the fact that many of the streets of the city are in knee-deep and even waist-deep water, there are other reasons why walking would appear to be a banned activity on Guwahati streets. Most of the pavements (where they exist in some form) have missing slabs, making it easy for pedestrians to fall into the drain below and break a few bones in the process. [S]

Rangiya civic employees on strike

RANGIYA, Oct 19: The employees of the Rangiya Municipal Board have resorting to a strike from October 16 demanding the fulfilment of their various long-standing grievances including payment of salaries. The civic strike has paralysed the normal functioning of the municipal office. The Rangiya municipal employees will continue their strike till October 31. [AT]

Dhubri village still languishing in the dark ages

DHUBRI, Oct 28: Hazirhat a thickly populated village situated at a distance of about 10 km from the south bank subdivisional headquarter of Hatisingimari, is perhaps a curse of 21st century. There is no electricity, no water supply, no road, not even a footpath, no waterway as an approach for Hazirhat. [S]

Indefinite strike in Rangiya Municipal Board
Employees demand regular salary

RANGIYA, Nov 4: The employees of the Rangiya Municipal Board resorted to indefinite strike from November 1 demanding removal of their various long-standing grievances, including payment of salaries regularly. The functioning of the Municipal Board has been completely paralysed following the strike. Earlier, the employees resorted to 15 days strike in October last also. [AT]

Golaghat Municipality supplies dirty water GOLAGHAT, Nov 6: The people of Golaghat are receiving dirty drinking water for the last few days. The water supplied by the Municipality is so dirty, that not to speak of drinking even clothes cannot be washed in it. The drinking water is full of muddy sediments and the people fear they are going to fall sick very soon if nothing is done about it. [S]

Municipality employees on strike

GOLAGHAT, Nov 17: About 4000 employees of 26 municipality bodies and 49 town committees are again in the path of agitation from November 13. This phase will continue for seven days upto November 19 said Mr Badan Bora, general secretary of the All Assam Civic body Workers Fedaration. He added that the next agitation will be of 15 days consecutively, from December 1, in case no favourable response is received from the Government. [S]

15-day civic body employees stir from Dec 1

GUWAHATI, Nov 30: The All Assam Municipal Employees Union, including the employees working in water supply who had not participated in earlier agitations, will resort to a 15-day strike from 5 a.m. of December 1 in protest against the failure on the part of the State Government to implement the agreement it had signed in a meeting with the civic body employees on July 12, 1990, a press release states. [S]

Inter-State bus terminus at Silcahr in jeopardy

SILCHAR, Dec 12: The construction of the second inter-State bus terminal at Assam at Silchar may not materialize due to the on-going conflict between North East Council (NEC) and Cachar district administration. After much dilly dallying the district administration identified 400 acres of land of Chirubeel near the Silchar Municipal area for building up the terminal. But the NEC has rejected the proposed site saying it is not suitable for building the terminus, said a local source. [S]

Poor roads, chaotic traffic situation irk AT Road residents

GUWAHATI, Dec 22: Although the Assam Trunk Road (AT Road) area, extending from the Paltan Bazar overbridge point to Bharalumukh police point in the city, has always been one of the most important commercial hubs in the State, the authorities concerned have as yet, not taken up any steps for the overall development of the area. The area, which has seen tremendous growth of automobile shops and business establishments during the last couple of decades, however, lacks basic civic amenities due to the apathetic attitude of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) and the Kamrup district administration. [S]