(IN): Guwahati city to protect wetlands, bans plastic bags

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Link: http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=jun2007/at01

 

Plastic bags banned in city

By A Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, June 19 – Asserting that the Government would accord top priority

to the protection of the city's hills and wetlands, Minister for Planning

and Development Himanta Biswa Sarma today said that no technology could rid

the city of its perennial problem of waterlogging unless its environment was

kept healthy. The administration has also clamped a ban on the common

plastic (polythene) carry bag with effect from tomorrow. The ban will stay

for three months initially.

 

" Preserving the hills and wetlands is critical to the success of any plan

for the city's development, and without doing that spending crores of rupees

will not lead us to a solution. Now onwards, our top priority would be to

accord protection to the city's natural environment, " Sarma said.

 

A single burst of shower brought the city to a standstill yesterday, with

water levels reaching waist-deep in many localities including most of the

major roads. This has been largely attributed to the widespread encroachment

on hills and wetlands.

 

Sarma said that the Government and the administration would act tough for

preventing any more encroachment on hills and wetlands. " It would be

difficult to evict the people already living in these areas for a long time,

say 15 years, but we will do everything possible to evict those below the

cut-off mark and also put a total stop to further encroachment, " he

asserted.

 

Urging all concerned, including the political parties, not to politicize the

issue of encroachment and eviction, Sarma said that it was a question of

whether the Guwahatians wanted a clean and planned city. " The parties

invariably rally behind the encroachers for political gains but in the long

run all suffer, " he said.

 

" The enormous amounts of silt coming from the hills following spells of

rains block the drains, leading to waterlogging. Again, the excess water

does not find its way to the wetlands, as they are under encroachment. The

answer lies in taking firm decisions and implementing those. For this, we

need cooperation of the people, " he said.

 

Sarma also pointed out that the city had one of the longest drainage

networks in the country, with a total drain length of 1,812 km – 550 km open

drain, 180 km pucca drain and 1,082 km kutcha drain. " However, no drainage

would be sufficient unless the hills and wetlands are preserved. Besides,

the people will also have to discard their practice of dumping garbage on

the drains, " he said.

 

On the opposition to the city's draft master plan from various quarters,

Sarma said that most of the objections centred on the issue of land rights

on hills and wetlands. " But it is only when the master plan zones the hills

and wetlands that the Government would be able to accord full legal

protection to those. As of now I have no power to stop filling up of myadi

patta land even if the area happens to a wetland, " he said, adding that a

lot of vested interests were coming in path of the city's development, and

people's support was necessary to overcome those.

 

Sarma said that so far 110 objections to the master plan had been received.

" The last date for objections is June 30, and we hope to start implementing

the master plan from August 1, " he said.

 

On the emerging menace of rampant earth-cutting on the Meghalaya hills near

Jorabat and the consequent unprecedented waterlogging in the nearby areas,

Sarma said that the Chief Minister had taken up the issue with the Meghalaya

Government but was told that those were private forest lands and the

Government could make little intervention. " Now, the Save Guwahati Build

Guwahati (SGBG) is going to file a PIL in the high court on the matter, and

we will take action on the basis of the court's directives, " he said.

 

Underscoring the need for an attitudinal change among the people who dump

garbage on drains, Sarma said that organizations like the AASU, instead of

blaming the Government for all the ills of the city, should launch a

campaign on keeping the drains free from garbage.

 

Sarma further said that the Government would take up eco-development

activities on the hills and wetlands for protecting their fragile

environment.