This is an interesting letter. Interesting, not so much because of a leaky water pipe, wasting millions of gallons (I guess), but more so about the utter, general callousness of public officials at Guwahati.
Accountability is, in all probabilities, not even a remote concern. But, what is precious is this: *"Being unable to tolerate the extreme heat of the mid-day sun for long, the supervisors left in their two wheelers possibly to report to the higher authorities that work was progressing smoothly. The workmen found the shade of some trees nearby and sat it out for the entire day eating tamul-paan and smoking biris. Towards evening, they covered the gap with a few boulders lying nearby and left, highly satisfied that they had done a good day's job." * As Barua (Rajan Barua) would have quipped, I say Hobo diyok and Upai nai :) --Ram Sir, – A water pipe passing along the road by my house burst six months ago spurting water like the mouth of a fire fighter's hose. It continued for the whole night and stopped only by mid-morning the next day possibly because the reservoir situated on the hills at Satpukhuri had emptied itself out! The local unnayan samity had contacted the GMC who had sent a few of their workmen along with some higher officers to plug the leak in the pipe. The two workmen worked, aided by some worn-out equipment, while the six officers observed and supervised. Being unable to tolerate the extreme heat of the mid-day sun for long, the supervisors left in their two wheelers possibly to report to the higher authorities that work was progressing smoothly. The workmen found the shade of some trees nearby and sat it out for the entire day eating tamul-paan and smoking biris. Towards evening, they covered the gap with a few boulders lying nearby and left, highly satisfied that they had done a good day's job. The water from the leak in the pipe continued to flow, not in a cascade this time, but like a stream and continues to this day. The bigwigs pass by the road twice every day, the sirens of the escort car blaring away to glory. He sees this stream but does not notice! The rich pass by and do nothing! The politician passes by and turns a blind eye. Telephone calls to the GMC office bears no result. The question that naturally arises is, "Are we so useless and incompetent that we cannot even plug a minor leak in a water pipe?" One hundred litres per minute, every day, twenty-four hours a day, month in month out! I wonder how much of this good potable water is going down the drain? – Yours etc., AJIT SAIKIA, Kharghuli, Guwahati.
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