Spare Gandhi Bagh, Silchar turned into water kingdom for amusement-courtesy SMB

October 26: Rain, incessant rain is the only happening thing in all the three districts of Barak Valley. However, speaking about Silchar, it could be said that it’s water all the way one could see. The civic authority which is the elected body for maintenance of drainage system of the town seems to be in deep slumber or may be they are so engrossed in planning for building an Amusement Park & water kingdom therein at Gandhi Bagh, that they have given up their prime responsibility of providing civic services. It’s something similar to the saying, “Nero fiddles while Rome burns.”

Torrential rainfall since the late morning has engulfed major parts of the town. Heavy rain also submerged various areas, adding to the misery of the city dwellers. Many social media users in Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter came up with some witty suggestions for the Silchar Municipal Board (SMB). One Facebook user wrote, “Why is the SMB wasting time & resources for building Amusement Park at Gandhi Bagh? The entire town is now converted into a big water kingdom for the citizens to amuse themselves. The credit for this goes to SMB who has no time to do what they were supposed to do!”

Residents particularly in areas like Ambicapatty, National Highway, N.S. Avenue, Malugram, Link Road, Sonai Road have stated that the local body needs to address the issue of water stagnation following the rains. It’s a mini flood at Silchar just on the eve of Kali Puja and Diwali. But our civic authority, the SMB is busy since the last few months to build an Amusement Park, star hotel & shopping plaza at Gandhi Bagh in collaboration with Assam Progressive Developers Limited (APDL) forgetting their prime duty. A social media user wrote, “SMB could have very well taken the help of APDL in devising new technology in cleaning & widening the chocked drains of Silchar town forgetting about destroying the green of Gandhi Bagh.”

To add to the woe, traffic came to a standstill. “With every spell of rain, our streets are flooded; this has been the norm here,” said a man struck in the traffic who went to purchase medicines from a shop at Ambicapatty. Water was flowing fast through the road near the National Highway point. Traffic on the usually congested streets came to a grinding halt when the streets went under water. As a result, people got stranded for long hours due to traffic congestion. Many areas were seen under knee deep water due to the city’s poor drainage system.

In many areas, the rainwater not only submerged the streets and alleyways but also flooded ground floors of many buildings. The residents of Silchar town and adjacent areas still face water logging despite concerned government agencies having drawn up various plans and ambitious projects. Unwilling to be named, a Municipal Ward Commissioner of the ruling party said, “In the past decade, urban planners had pointed out several times that rapid urbanisation of Silchar had resulted in substantial increase in impervious area, created obstruction to natural drainage patterns, and reduced the detention basins, which in turn led to the shortening of the runoff concentration time and an increase of the peak flow.”

But the million dollar questions which arises here is- Is our Silchar Municipal Board doing their work properly for which they were elected? Is it not the maintenance of the drainage system of the town, the prime duty of SMB? Is it not the SMB for which people of Silchar would not be able to enjoy Kali Puja and Diwali due to water logging? Will the residents of Silchar go to the proposed Amusement Park at Gandhi Bagh by means of boat from their houses?

These and many other such questions are doing the rounds among the people of Silchar at present. Rainfall is a natural phenomenon and none has any control over it. But to be prepared for rainy days is in the hands of the people. A facebook user addressing the SMB Chairperson, Niharendra Narayan Thakur wrote, “Sir, we fervently request you to give a full stop to your ambitious Gandhi Bagh project and take the help of your friends of APDL and first beautify this town. Silchar needs proper drainage system first, star hotels & shopping plaza can be built later. We request you to provide a civilised life. #Save Silchar.”