By Our Reporter
Shillong: The Save Umkhrah and Umshyrpi Task Force on Wednesday called for mass public participation at the public gathering scheduled for April 21 at the Polo Grounds. The gathering is one of a series of action plans for building up the campaign and public consensus on cleaning the Wah Umkhrah and Umshyrpi.
The Task Force comprises prominent NGOs of the state and also includes the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) and the Mylliem Syiemship to address issues relating to cleaning of the Wah Umkhrah and Umshyrpi.
Addressing the press here on Wednesday, convener of the task force, Toki Blah, also the president of the I-CARE, stressed that this is a campaign to win the minds and hearts of people in this huge task of reclaiming the city’s rivers which have been allowed to degrade in the last forty years due to human activities.
The rally aims at triggering the minds of the people on this matter while hoping to get maximum participation and commitment of the people of Shillong, Blah said.
“The Task Force has identified the main cause of pollution of the Umkhrah and Umshyrpi and believes that it emanates from household garbage, solid and liquid waste dumped into these two rivers.” Blah told reporters adding that the cleaning process must start from every home.
Stressing that the campaign is not a one-day affair, Blah said basically the campaign should be sustainable through human resources and involvement of stakeholders in cleaning the streams.
“We in the Task Force are very clear that this is not a one day affair but will take a minimum of 10 years”, he said.
The Task Force has also appealed to the people and households in the city not to throw waste or release effluents into the rivers if they are committed to saving the streams as well the Umiam reservoir.
When asked if a beginning should be made to clean the streams physically to further add strength to the campaign, Blah said, “We don’t believe in that idea. The Task Force is only the facilitator. We want people to be involved in the campaign to save the stream and what we are looking for is a sustainable movement.”
Echoing the views of Blah, Environmentalist Naba Bhattacharjee and member of the task force, Nicholas Kharnami said the need now is to first cleanse the minds of people.
The Task Force has also called on all media persons to become stakeholders in this campaign and not to be mere reporters of events. Some media persons have suggested that a strategy be evolved to allow the public to donate money for this cause. “It is time to take matters in our hands and not wait for the Government to come up with funds all the time. This will ensure the longevity of the campaign,” Mr Sanat Chakravarty of The Pioneer said. Other media persons echoed his views.
Various programmes will be conducted as part of the rally to save the streams including a marathon titled “Run to save Umkhrah and Umshyrpi” from Madan Iewrynghep to Polo on April 21.