Amid Assam’s break down spree, village sets example in building

Our Correspondent Diphu, Dec. 4 (EMN): At a time when even Guwahati, the capital of Assam, takes the excuse of artificial floods to break down unauthorised walls and demolish private buildings, the villagers of Chephongsajir under Karbi Anglong district are setting an example for the development of the village. Unlike most of the villages in the district, Chephongsajir village has wide roads. They use bamboo wicker waste baskets at intervals of every few metres along roads to carry out garbage; the village is clean. All these are being developed through the initiative of Chephongsajir Village Development Committee (VDC). The present president of the VDC is Hemchandra Teron and the general secretary is Lakhinath Teron. While supervising the demolition of a boundary wall for widening roads in the village Lakhinath said what they are doing now was planned and envisioned by the founders of the village way back in 1988. The plan on how to develop the village has been documented in records of the village. Every year the village’s foundation day is celebrated at the village playground during which students, elders and leaders are felicitated and decision concerning the village is taken. He said: “We are doing nothing new here. All these were planned by the founders of the village. They have planned for wide roads and now we are widening them. No matter what, the boundary walls of residents will be demolished for the common welfare of the villagers. The only thing new that we have done is developing a park at the bank of the rivulet.” Though, it was not easy for the VDC with the residents on both sides of the road protesting vigorously yet to no avail of the residents. The general secretary also narrated that during the protest few of the residents cried opposing the road widening while some of them even threatened the committee. When even the PWD had failed, the VDC members stood their ground and prevailed and nobody filed any complaint with the authority, he added. To set an example of co-operation Mondol Engleng, a local resident of the village who is a government servant had asked the VDC to demolish his boundary wall, costing a few lakhs of rupees. Engleng has also developed on his own a water harvesting tank in his residence so that the nearby wells do not dry up. Earlier the founder general secretary of VDC Wilson Terang had also asked the present committee to break a part of his boundary wall for the purpose of setting an example. The road widening in the village is now being done under the supervision of founder president Ram Teron and general secretary Wilson Terang. However, the electricity posts of the ASEB are now standing on the middle of the road after widening. Lakhinath said the committee will approach the ASEB for shifting the posts to the roadside. The development committee is planning on the possibility of damming the Lorulangso rivulet that runs by the village’s park to make a nano hydroelectric project so that the park will have power 24x7.