That's the road.

Photo courtesy: Divyalina Bhuyan

Few years back Uday Path, a bylane connected to the Zoo Road was one of the worst lanes in Guwahati. The road was potholed and would turn a muddy stretch during the rainy seasons. There was no proper drainage system and therefore the water could not flow out freely into the main drain along the main road. Moreover, there was always a waterlogging problem in the area.

This continued for almost ten long years. Even after repeated complaints and letters to the PWD department nothing truly happened. Finally, the tenants and the flat owners of the Tenement Apartment decided to repair the road all by themselves. Since it was all together an expensive matter, they decided to collect money from all the residents who stayed there. and also who owned empty plots in the area. Many people were not cooperative and were the least bothered about paying even small sum of money because they expected the government to do something about it. And nothing good happened — the road turned worse year after year.

Almost after six to seven months, the residents of Tenement Apartment collected some money from all the flat owners so that they could at least cover the road with small chips. This will help the people to safely walk on the road, most people felt. But as soon as the rainy season started everything got washed away. As expected. Everything turned into a waste. Sigh.

One fine day recently I heard my parents talking about a minister buying a plot right opposite to our apartment. The very next day I found a group of people surveying the lane. And right after a week they began to re-construct the road. This was surprising for all because the thing which nobody could probably do, just happened in a few days. Nobody asked questions as long as the road got constructed.

To my surprise, today the Uday Path lane is one of the finest lanes in Guwahati. There is no lane as smooth and good as this one. Had the minister not brought that piece of land, the people would have been still struggling to even walk on the road.

This shows that today we common people have no value; nobody is even ready to listen to our problems. It is only because of that minister the road finally got repaired after so many years. Thanks to the leader. Jai ho!