The hotel entrance

Feb. 13: The Chatribari Unnayan Samity, a citizens’ group, today protested against the blocking of a footpath by a hotel on AT Road.

The Samity said the hotel had blocked the footpath years ago, creating problems for commuters using the crowded AT Road. The local administration, too, they alleged, had not paid any heed to their repeated pleas to get the footpath cleared.

The Samity’s general secretary, Hemen Lahkar, said the roadside drain passing in front of the hotel was used as a pavement by residents of Chatribari and commuters taking the AT Road before it was closed by the hotel without any reason. “Like the rest of the city, we used the roadside covered drain constructed by the PWD as a pavement till it was closed by the hotel. Earlier, commuters used it as a road connecting AT Road and the road to Meghdoot cinema, but people now have to take AT Road, which remains very busy and crowded all the time,” he said.

“We have been requesting the Guwahati Municipal Corporation and the district administration to get the footpath cleared, but all our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. We had also requested the hotel authorities to open the pavement as it is public property,” Lahkar said.

The hotel authorities, however, said it was not a footpath, and that they had been allowed to use it as the entrance to the hotel.

The general manager of the hotel, Diwakar, said it was not a pavement and they had received no complaints from the residents of Chatribari. “We use it as an entry point to our hotel and people can use the pavement of AT Road. If they have been facing problems for years, why did they not come to us and complain?” he asked.

The covered drain, which was earlier used as a pavement, is situated between the hotel and the Swahid Udyan of All Assam Students Union along AT Road.

“The hotel authorities have constructed some structures to close the way. They often misbehave with people who try to use the covered drain as a pavement. Even the PWD had to stop renovation of the drain alongside AT Road as the hotel did not vacate the part of the drain passing by its entrance,” Dinesh Deka, another resident, said.