A city road: Despite the existence of two authorities, civic amenities are in the pits

Hemen Hazarika,
Anandanagar, Noonmati

Denizens have seen for themselves the progress that the city has made in the past few years and this has led everyone to believe that under the traditional distribution of powers, neither the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) nor the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) have been able to put the city on the right track of progress.

The problems faced by the city earlier not only remain, but have been compounded because Guwahati has meanwhile grown.

Hence it has become very important to redefine the powers and responsibilities of both the bodies so as to give fillip to the development process.

Wasim Khan,
Gandhibasti

In spite of having both a municipal corporation and a development authority, the city has seen little progress in the past few years.

There is tall talk of a master plan, mechanised garbage clearing, storm water drainage, flyovers, multi-tier parking lots, supermarkets, bus bays, broad roads, bylanes and what not.

But at the end of the day, what people actually see are broken promises. Civic amenities are in the pits. Buildings are coming up at will, most flouting even common sense norms, let alone GMC or GMDA norms.

A visitor to the city is surprised to know that two authorities exist to take care of the city.

We understand that funds are a constraint, but it is also a fact that both the authorities take advantage of overlapping of powers to their advantage and to the disadvantage of the denizens.

Hence the powers and responsibilities of both the GMC and the GMDA should be redefined at the earliest. The redefining should be done impartially, with the consent of both the bodies.

Care should also be taken to see that there is no overlapping of power or loopholes in the responsibilities.

Pulakesh Baishya,
Chatribari

Redefining the powers and responsibilities of the GMC and the GMDA will mean another circus and the people can very well do without any more of it.

Only recently, we saw the hullabaloo that was created in the wake of transfer and re-transfer of powers of the GMC to the GMDA. Redefining responsibilities will only mean politicking and will not serve any purpose. We will only be caught in the confusion and will lose out on even the few civic amenities that we are getting.

It will be enough if the government simply spells out which areas are dealt with by the GMC and the GMDA.

Suman Bora,
Rehabari

Guwahati is now an expanding and crowded city. It also has two bodies of authority to plan and implement its development. Unfortunately, common citizens see no visible manifestation of the existence of these two bodies.

The city is bursting at the seams but in a totally haphazard manner.

No one is aware of the responsibilities of either the GMC or the GMDA. For example, I recently extended a room in my house with permission from the GMDA. Around the same time, my neighbour also added another room to his house — but he did so with a no-objection certificate from the GMC.

It is high time the government clearly spelt out the powers and responsibilities of both the bodies so that the common citizen is not confused.

A broad definition of the powers should then be publicised through the media so that the people know whom to approach with different problems.

Geetika Barua,
Narengi

There is no need to redefine the powers and responsibilities of the GMC and the GMDA. Their respective responsibilities have been spelt out clearly enough.

Problems arise because both the bodies tussle for power. If both the GMC and the GMDA stick to their sides of the fence, the common citizens will face no problems at all. But the two authorities encroach into each other’s territories, taking advantage of loopholes in some of the clauses.

The root of all civic problems that the city is facing at present is corruption. Both the GMDA and the GMC have become hotbeds of graft and that is why the people are not witnessing any visible progress.

The government should step in and stop corruption. All things will automatically fall into place. The government should also publicise the powers of both the bodies in the greater interest of the people.

Ram Chandra Nath,
Sarabhatti

Redefinition of the powers and responsibilities of the GMC and the GMDA is not going to help matters at all.

What is needed is co-ordination. Unfortunately for the common people, both the authorities are more interested in increasing their own powers than in developing the city.

Their powers are clearly demarcated and there would have been no problem if they carried on their tasks sincerely. The bigwigs, however, make the GMC and the GMDA hunting grounds for politicking. Maybe we should have civic experts from other cities to advise us on how to ensure co-ordination.