Dr. Jury Sharma Bordoloi (Congress) : 42274
Hemanta Talukdar (Independent) : 12397
With about two months until the state assembly polls, and the election fervour picking up at a rapid pace, critical analysis of the capabilities and work deliveries by the current government are the trending topics of discussions. Be it at the official level, among the Assamese intelligentsia, on media platforms or at the ‘galir adda(s)’, people are busy discussing the government’s performance and the various civic issues. And why not? It’s time to exercise the common man’s ultimate power in the democracy - ‘right to franchise.’
Keeping up to this election fervour, G Plus tried to sketch out the progress of the four constituencies of Guwahati over the last term of the government under the present legislator or MLA – the member of the legislative assembly.
In this issue we take up the Gauhati West constituency that covers a major area of the city, even beyond the urbanity of Guwahati or its metropolitan district. Notably, the incumbent MLA, Ramendra Narayan Kalita of Assam Gana Parishad (AGP) has been holding this post not for this term alone. He has been the legislator of Gauhati West since 1985 (except for two terms in 2001 and 2011).
G Plus spoke to the citizens of a few of the localities of Gauhati West to get their reviews on the constituency and the MLA.
While many activities and development works have been undertaken by the government as part of the city wide development projects, citizens pointed out various unattended problems across the constituency at the ground level.
To start with, regular water supply was raised as a major concern. Despite the Brahmaputra nearby, people of many localities, especially in the hilly regions of the constituency, have been left without regular water supply even after five years of electing a BJP government – all with hopes for a better future. People of Santipur hilltop, Birubari, Datalpara, Dhirenpara area inform of spending a fair share of their monthly income on buying water from the private suppliers.
Proper road connectivity in many interior areas has been a major concern for citizens. In the last few years, G Plus has reported of many lanes in Gauhati West (say Ganeshpara as an example) where the woes of the people struggling with broken roads have been ignored for over eight years. The people had claimed that despite repeatedly contacting the MLA, their complaints were not addressed. As recently as on 7th February last, Ramendra Narayan Kalita was compelled by the angry citizens of Shribhuminagar Adagodam to walk along a 1,000 metre stretch of broken road to understand their daily struggle as their requests were left unheard till date.
Degrading environment - in the eco-sensitive zone along the Deepor Beel, which is a Ramsar site - is another rising problem. Indigenous people along this tribal belt have time and again been complaining about the establishment of factories and stone quarries that have led to the gradual destruction of geographical features like hills and wetlands. Reportedly, many hills have been acquired by well connected business houses that have even acquired land ‘pattas’ on the same.
Apart from these, the constituency has seen a large scale mushrooming of slum like localities, mainly along the railway tracks. These have subsequently led to the rise in a number of criminal activities like petty thefts, chain snatching, robberies and others.
What’s common among the above mentioned allegations is the aloofness and apathy of the present legislator as has been pointed out by the citizens. One person said, “We have tried to reach out to him on various occasions but it’s only possible to meet him before the elections. Kalita is a public representative, we the people have elected him for many terms now, but let alone development, the MLA is never available to hear and understand what the citizens seek.”
“And when he does meet the people, it’s usually with vague promises that are never fulfilled, just never. Every position comes with some power. As the MLA of Gauhati West, Kalita definitely enjoys certain powers. But whenever we have approached him with our issues even citing harms like pollution, environmental degradation and health hazards, he has failed to intervene as desired,” added a citizen.
Jury Sharma Bordoloi, District Congress President, who had contested for the Gauhati West Constituency in the 2016 elections, told G Plus, “The constituency is severely lagging behind in urban development. Various schemes were initiated by the earlier Congress government to solve issues of drinking water, but no significant progress has been made till date. The West Guwahati Water Supply Project started in 2011-12 was supposed to have been completed in 2015. But it’s 2021 now and the project continues to drag without any hopes of nearing completion. Plus, the BJP government said that since Gauhati West has surplus water, this project could also supply to other parts of the city and hence a part of it was linked with the JICA-funded project. Has anything been done?”
“The government has done many injustices towards the citizens of Gauhati West, but Ramendra Narayan Kalita has chosen to keep these under wraps. Some repair works of the roads have been undertaken no doubt, but is there any new development in the real sense? Drainage and sewage disposal were some of the main promises made by the BJP, but nothing has been done in this regard. Neither is there is any development in the health sector in Gauhati West constituency nor is there any major infrastructural development. Some foot bridges have been made, but I think these have not been scientifically placed where necessary,” she added.
“There continues to be a surge in unemployment. After the new land ordinance many indigenous people are compelled to sell off their land for settling of industries and factories. We have come to learn of many illegal quarries and timber businesses that have cropped up with the patronage of the MLA himself,” Bordoloi alleged.
Santanu Bharali, Legal Adviser to the Chief Minister of Assam said, “West Gauhati is a huge area with three ‘mondals’. The problems in West and South Guwahati are similar to the rest of the city, but that in the Rani area are totally different. People do have allegations against the incumbent MLA, Ramendra Narayan Kalita that he is not approachable. And when he is approached, his response is usually not very satisfactory.”
“The Rani area is a tribal belt. The people there are mostly facing human-elephant conflict. Also in the Deepor Beel area the lands are not properly demarcated, as to whether it is a revenue area or forest land. But in the main city area people are struggling with narrow roads and flood issues in many localities,” he added.
“Otherwise I believe the Gauhati West constituency is very favourable for BJP. If AJP and BJP are willing to contest in a friendly election, I am willing to offer my candidature. There are many things to be done there and I will be more than happy to offer my service,” Bharali said.
