GUWAHATI, June 4 ? The Association of Architects, Assam (AAA), today stressed the need for a comprehensive master plan for planned development of the city which will effectively deal with all the civic problems besetting it. ?The task of preparing and implementing such a plan should be entrusted with a reputed technical firm from outside having the necessary infrastructure, equipment and technical know-how,? AAA general secretary Tikendrajit Saikia said. Warning that Guwahati would be a ?dead city? within 10 years if the state of affairs going on in the name of the city?s development was allowed to continue, Saikia said the problems of the city were very complicated and inter-related, and a very in-depth analysis of those was the need of the hour. For this, a proper survey of the entire city was a must and only a renowned technical firm from outside would be best equipped for the purpose.
Expressing concern that nowadays it has become a ?fashion? for anybody without any technical knowledge or proper understanding of the civic problems of the city to offer suggestions for their solution, Saikia said most of the suggestions were far-fetched impractical and even ridiculous. This is a very dangerous trend and it reflects a total ignorance of the complex nature of the city?s problems, he said. Stating that no ?part-by-part? solution was possible for the problems, he reiterated that persons with very high technical competence alone could effectively deal with those. ?The very nature of the problems calls for experts? intervention, he added.
Saikia also said that a delegation of the AAA had already apprised the Chief Minister of the grave situation the city is facing. Criticising the GMC and the GMDA for the manner in which they have been granting building permissions, Saikia said they did not have technical experts or architects for the purpose and lacked even proper rules and regulations in this regard.