GUWAHATI: Daily traffic snarls and lack of space to park vehicles has become synonymous to the hill-locked Binova Nagar of Guwahati Municipal Corporation’s (GMC) Ward No 17.
This was revealed in a survey conducted by G Plus in which 50 families of the ward were asked questions on 14 parameters of living standards such as water supply, streetlights, garbage collection etc.
39 respondents (78 per cent) expressed dissatisfaction on the traffic congestion among which, 17 respondents (34 per cent) said that the roads are occasionally crowded while a majority of 22 others (44 per cent) said that the traffic condition is pathetic. Only 11 respondents (22 per cent) said that traffic movement is smooth here.
Regarding parking space too, 31 respondents (62 per cent) said that the parking spaces are not adequate while the rest 19 are satisfied with the parking spaces available.
The residents blame the terrain of Kalapahar as the reason behind the narrow roads that leads to these problems.
“The roads are very narrow. On a road, where two vehicles can hardly pass when one heavy vehicle is plying, which happens more than often, the entire road gets jammed. There is not much scope to widen the roads either as the roads are curved along the hill and the plains at the foot are already crowded,” Raju Karmakar, a resident here said.
A majority of 29 respondents (58 per cent) said that water logging is a critical problem in their area while three others (six per cent) said that water logging is confined to a few lanes only. 18 respondents (36 per cent) said that they do not face the water logging problem.
“The unplanned constructions on the hills have changed the rainwater course from the hill tops. Earlier the rainwater used to find its way into the Bharalu River naturally. But such is not the case anymore and the rainwater tends to flood the areas. Also, due to the deforestation on the top, the water retaining capacity of the hills has gone down considerably,” another resident, Ashok Sarkar, said.
But, like any other ward in the city, the residents blamed part of the water logging problem due to a poorly maintained drainage system.
A bulk of 41 respondents (82 per cent) said that the drainage system is not well maintained.
Besides, the residents have unanimously said that there are no public toilets in the ward. They expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of potable water and pest control measures.
Seven of 14 parameters satisfactory
The residents of Ward No 17 are satisfied with seven of the 14 living parameters.
The highlight, however, is the availability of streetlights, a GMC service regarding which most of the residents of the city have complaints about.
29 respondents (58 per cent) said that their lanes are well lit while 3 others (6 per cent) said that their lanes are vaguely lit. Off the rest, 7 (14 per cent) said the lanes are insufficiently lit while 11 others (22 per cent) said that there are no streetlights.
“Those unlit areas are where encroachments take place. Otherwise, most of the ward is well lit; so is Binova Nagar. Though quite far from the city, this area is very well lit,” Ashok Sarkar said.
Regarding the roads, too, the residents seemed satisfied as a majority of 42 respondents (84 per cent) expressed satisfaction off which, 14 (28 per cent) ranked those as good and the rest 28 (56 per cent) ranked it as average. Off the rest eight respondents, 7 (14 per cent) ranked the roads as bad and only one (2 per cent) ranked it as pathetic.
The Kalapahar Hill houses the 10th and 4th Assam Police Battalions besides having the Special Branch office.
32 respondents ranked this ward as secure while one said that the ward is very secure.
For door-to-door garbage collection, however, the residents credit the GMC as the task is particularly tough in the hills.
“There are areas where the service does not reach properly, but several areas on the hills are tough to reach and yet GMC provides the service,” Sarkar said.
22 respondents (44 per cent) said they receive the service daily while 9 others (18 per cent) said twice a week. 10 respondents (20 per cent) opined the service to be irregular and 9 others (18 per cent) said that they never receive the service.
Besides, the residents also expressed satisfaction regarding the lack of load shedding, transport connectivity and access to medical facilities.
Traffic not under my ambit: Councillor
While traffic congestion is a problem which the councillor of Ward No 17, Madhuchanda Dev, wants to leave at the hands of the police, she vouches to take care of the drainage system in the ward.
“It is true that the drains here are a bit jammed, which should not be the case due to the hills here. The water should get cleared away on time. But often, our drains get clogged by eroded soil and hills from the top. So, maintenance takes more time and money in this ward than others,” Dev said.
She added, “Traffic congestion is not my department. It is up to the traffic department of the police. I cannot interfere there. But since the residents have complained, I will inform the department about the same and ask them to come up with a solution.”
Like other wards, Dev is also waiting for the city water supply projects to be completed.
“We are not alone. The whole city is suffering from this problem,” she said.