Shillong, September 18: The conglomeration of the social organization from Garo Hills has written to the minister incharge public health engineering Mr Prestone Tynsong, in protest against the forcible closure of a public road by putting up structures by the Public Health Community (PHC) at Chokpot.
These organization from Garo Hills, the GSU, the FKJGP and the ADE said that would like to bring forth to your notice and kind information about the arrogant, elitist and clinical nature of the person in charge of the PHC to close up the public road used by the community by trying to construct a wall; concrete posts have been forcibly put up on the road.
The GSU, the ADE and the FKJGP held a meeting on the invitation for enquiry of the Chokpotgre community on the 13th Sept’16 at the Chokpot Indoor Stadium. The road has been used by the community of Chokpotgre long before the PHC was established at its present location. And NOC for the patta was given by the acting-Nokma only two months prior to the meeting held by the GSU, the ADE and the FKJGP for the PHC. The meeting was attended by the School Headmistress, the Nokma, clan elders and some prominent citizens of the Chokpotgre community.
As the meeting progressed allegations were made that the PHC has encroached upon the land on the other side of the carpeted road and has built quarters. The grievance though is not about land encroachment as no one is aggrieved about it but the closure of the road which now runs through the PHC compound and boundary. The acting Nokma, who is also member of Rogi Kalyan Samiti has also stated that he never agreed to the closure of the road even though he agreed to the process of consolidating the PHC boundary.
The Chokpotgre Community as per the voters list numbers more than a thousand. Taking the above statistics into consideration, the number of affected people would touch more than two thousand people. That is not even without taking into account the number of people inconvenienced because of the presence of schools and institutions that is affected by the direct closure of the road. The people are left without any other alternative motorable linkage/road. As mentioned there are a number of important institutions affected by the inconsiderate, thoughtless and ill-advised actions of the person in charge of the PHC. The important institutions which suddenly have no motorable connections are:
The social organization also want that a motorable road to an indoor stadium is a necessity. As more active participants increases to use the indoor stadium lack of motorable road will be of great inconvenience. Besides as the stadium will need repairs and upgrades of the structure, not only will it be of great inconvenience, but will add to the cost of transportation of building materials and equipments for the stadium in future. Convenience to the facilities of the stadium will increase motivation and certainly lack of a road will depreciate the value of this important structure for youth activities.
This road that was closed it lead to the post office of the sub division, the citizens are becoming aggressive because of the sudden closure of the road. Inconvenienced as they are because of the deplorable road conditions in the sub-division there is no recourse to the mitigation of their troubles other than discontent when this particular road is closed. The discontentment due to inconvenience that several complaints from many.
There are about four hundred students in the two schools mentioned. Chokpot is one of the most militant affected area many if not all use vehicles to parry their children. The once motorable road to the school is now closed causing great inconvenience to the people and the students. And besides the school will grow and will need more infrastructures in the future. One can imagine how the lack of motorable road will affect it. The schools are used as exam centres which means that it is a centre of activity at least once a year.MBOSE officials, invigilators and others will want to keep their vehicles close by. The inconsiderate action of the doctor will earn more ire from the people.
With the closer of this road the Village Court is also cut off and this will also create great inconvenience. Beset as some of the people will be with troubles and grievances this inconvenience will also be a catalyst to further stress and proximate to woes gravitas.
The people of the Chokpot Sub-Division have no access to tap water for almost two years now, the GSU will take up the issue soon.The PHE has gone defunct and supposedly cites problem of lack of flow of funds to operationalise the existing water pipes lines or to replace worn-out water pipes.
Therein lays another problem of the institutions, offices and people of the community. The school and the post office do not have running tap water. During marriages, functions and ceremonies water supply is a necessity and without running tap water or even with it extra supply of water is a necessity. PHE tankers or other form of water carriage is used and now suddenly there is no motorable road to connect them. We all can imagine the magnitude of the problem, cost overheads and inconveniences suffered,
The GSU in the press statement said that, they believe that the above mentioned points are enough to satiate a sane and considerate person and behoove a different approach rather than aggravate the people with a narrow minded view on service and convenience to the people.
The cantankerous doctor is susceptible to egoistic approach who believes that vice of highhandedness, without recourse to a solution, only feeds her ego and does not necessarily benefit the people of the region. The people have another complaint against this doctor, Miss Tengchi Sangma, who spends her night duties in her quarter, and should patients in emergency cases come to the hospital she is not found at her station, the GSU alleged.
Further the GSU said that the sick are forced to knock on her door in the quarter. The doctor then shouts and insists that a chowkidar of the compound should accompany them and many times, it is reported, that the chowkidar is nowhere to be found.
The Acting-Nokma, in the meeting, tried to find a solution by suggesting perhaps a new motorable road can be built to connect the institutions. But the solution was derailed by the people in the meeting because at best the road could have reached just the indoor stadium and the road connection to other institutions and offices would be hampered by the Chokpot Indoor Stadium building itself and to boot there will be scarcity of parking space to satisfy the need of the people who would be using these institutions and offices.
Her predecessors, reminisces the people, like Dr. Menachi recognised the importance of the road to the community and did nothing to alter the situation. Even the former D.C. of South Garo Hills, Mr. Tiwari insisted that the road be functional.
In the memorandum the GSU said that the public road be immediately re-opened for public use and the concrete posts that are rooted to forcibly block the road be immediately removed. We the NGOs and Civil Societies will pursue this matter so long as the inconvenience and hardship is meted out to the people by acts of high-handedness, egoistical attitude and wrongheaded proceedings of this doctor that tantamount to mulish behaviour and obstinacy bordering on penchant for enjoying the hardships faced by the public for twisted sense of forced self satisfying and self fulfilling purpose. We are quite ready for pursuing agitation programmes should the concerned authorities continue to block the public road and cause inconvenience and hardship to the people.
