Guwahati, Oct. 4: The city is dressing up for Durga Puja - the festive spirit wraps it like a stole, colourful lights glitter like jewellery and people are rushing about for last-minute shopping.
However, the pathetic condition of the city roads threatens to play spoilsport for revellers who are just waiting to go pandal-hopping.
And the ladies might as well keep their high heels stacked on the rack as stepping into potholes with a dainty stiletto could pose a risk to life and limb.
"Wearing high heels on these roads is out of question. They are so rugged I will trip twice in a step," Sunita Baruah, a homemaker, said. "This Puja, we will have to be content watching the pandals and idols from the car and having dinner in overcrowded food joints," she said.
"A drop of rain and there will be mud and filth everywhere. If it doesn't rain, it will be dusty," said Kavyashree Singha, a second-semester student of Commerce College here.
The Chandmari Tiniali area has been extremely dusty since the roads were dug up a few days ago for laying pipes under the 24x7 drinking water supply project funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). After this evening's drizzle, it's muddy.
The roads aren't going to be repaired soon, suggests the public works department (roads).
According to a report compiled by the superintending office of PWD (roads), Guwahati circle, Chandmari Tiniali is one among 81 roads which were dug for pipe-laying and which remain unrepaired or have been partially repaired.
"A total stretch of 62.73km of roads was dug up for laying pipes and most of these roads have not been repaired properly. The pipe-laying agency has done patchwork repairs on important arteries for the festive season but this is temporary because the second phase of pipe-laying is pending," said Ziaur Hossain, superintending officer of PWD (roads), Guwahati circle.
The major arteries dug up by the agency include Kahilipara, Bora Service, GNB Road, Noonmati, Kharguli Road, Hatigaon, B.K. Kakati Road, South Sarania and Dighalipukhuri.
"We cannot touch the JICA projects as we have no jurisdiction there. Those roads will be dug and patched up by the agency only. Our department has carried out some patch-up work in isolated places on the basis of verbal orders from Dispur. We haven't had funds sanctioned for that yet," Rahman said.
The district administration had on September 23 instructed JICA to halt laying of pipes and patch up the exposed areas for the festive season. City dwellers, however, allege that pipes were laid in the Basistha and Chandmari areas even after the halt order.
"The roads are in a mess at Chandmari. All the roads are dug up and it is very dusty during daytime. The work was done this week only," said Purbendu Pal, a grocery shop owner at Chandmari.
A source in the PWD said in August Dispur had asked the department to send an estimate of roads which needed to be repaired on a priority basis. "We identified 102 roads that required repairing and gave an estimate of Rs 104 crore for the work. We are still sending estimates but the work will not start before December," he said.
Puja order
The Kamrup (metro) administration has directed Durga Puja committees in the city to ensure that the venues are kept clear for free movement of pandal-hoppers. Altogether 600 Pujas will be held across the city.
"We have asked the committees to keep Puja pandals free of any object that may obstruct the movement of visitors. The venues should have proper entry and exit points. The pandals should be constructed in such a manner that the materials used in them do not pose a threat to the public," deputy commissioner M. Angamuthu said.
"In the past, we have received complaints of some pandals posing a threat to the public. Certain pandals have also been found to block roads, resulting in traffic snarls. Digging roads to construct pandals is strictly prohibited and the Puja committees have been directed to abstain from blocking the roads. We will take action where necessary. The Puja committees have also been asked to keep the area in front of the idols clear so that visitors can move in and out freely. They have also been directed to allot a specific area at the venue for stalls," commissioner of police Hiren Nath had said last week.
The district administration has identified five major ghats for immersion - Kasomari Fancy Bazar, Pandu, Sunsali, Jyoti Kochi Lokhra and Basistha.
Additional reporting by Barnali Handique
