Although pre-seasonal intermittent showers have been active during the past few weeks in state, the seasonal calendar monsoon has just crept in and if its preliminary ‘effects’ on the daily urban life of the capital is any indication, it is quite apparent that there is hardly going to be any major change in the picture which has remained almost the same over years. Waterlogging in the state capital is nothing new, but the way it has aggravated making life difficult now even for the shops and business establishments in Capital Complex area, it is clear that drainage system is also in need of urgent attention just like the roads.
Last Wednesday’s rain had brought untold miseries for countless shops and business establishments including banks in the capital as water from roads backflowed and invaded their premises damaging merchandise. It is not that these business establishments are located in the outskirts or less prime points of the capital. Rather they are located at business and commercial nerve centres where the basic civic amenities are supposed to be above average, if not A1. Even the portion of the NH-415, opposite to Civil Secretariat, the administrative headquarters of the state was nothing dissimilar as waterlogging persisted during peak hours. Residential colonies such as E and D Sectors and low lying areas of Vivek Vihar had similar nightmarish experiences. Last Friday, in a repetition of past instances, hundreds of passengers experienced a harrowing time as flash flood triggered by rainfall swamped the premises of Inter State Bus Terminal in capital. No urban engineering is knowledge is needed to explain all these. There is virtually no proper and modern drainage system in all the above cases. 
It is true that for millions of urban dwellers in the country, waterlogged roads are as much a part of the monsoon package as thunder and lightning. There will be endless examples to cite with the most recent being Mumbai which is still struggling to efface the aftermath of a ravaging monsoon. But for Itanagar the challenge is perhaps of a greater degree since landslides and flash floods are common due to geographical location and topographical features. In such an irreversible scenario, from a layman’s point of view it will be quite logical to suggest that drainage facilities need a total revamp. And for bringing in force an efficient management system of drainage there must be an urgent relook of the existing mechanism with zero tolerance to man-made reasons like deposits and wastes that are non-degradable such as plastics and others.
The problem should be addressed with that degree of seriousness implementing long-term solutions, so that it frees the denizens of Capital Complex from a lingering seasonal suffering.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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