With the advent of the monsoon,
there has been a sigh of relief for water starved residents of the city who expect to get a better share of the prized liquid at least for the coming few weeks. But the problem is far from solved as no sooner the rains recede, scarcity of water would be back to haunt Shillongites.
Ironically, despite heavy rainfall for a considerable part of the year, the city has to deal with acute water crisis almost throughout the year. Hence, with the rise in mercury levels year after year coupled with decreasing rainfall, it is imminent that the State Government seriously considers promoting the concept of rain water harvesting in the urban areas especially with the various localities in Shillong staring at a crisis like situation when it comes to proper supply of water.
With the population increasing by the day and the growth witnessed by the city, it has become difficult for the Government to ensure even safe drinking water for all. Local residents have been complaining about unsafe drinking water and diminishing water supply for domestic purposes. Unsafe drinking water, the main and much-debated topic in recent times is not only discussed at the government level but also in each and every locality. People have been complaining that the water supplied by the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department is unfit for drinking and this is evident from the colour of the water and its taste.
The only possible solution to do away with many of these issues and avoid an impending crisis is to encourage people to take up rainwater harvesting considering the fact that the State still receives a huge amount of rainfall.
It may be mentioned that the State receives bountiful rainfall in its southern river basins and boasts of the highest annual rainfall in the world in the Sohra-Mawynsram belt.
According to the State Water Resource Department, the average annual rainfall in Meghalaya is 2,818mm. But the retention of the precipitation is discouraging.
Though the Soil and Water Conservation department has a project in place for rainwater harvesting in various parts of the State, it is not being done in a large scale.
The State can take a leaf out of Karnataka government’s rain harvesting plan whereby it has been made mandatory for every newly constructed building in Bangalore to have provisions in place for rainwater harvesting. It may be mentioned that the State Government had constituted the Meghalaya Water Harvesting Mission in 2008 with the sole objective of exploring the possibilities of rain water harvesting here.
But sadly in the past five years since the mission was constituted the MWHM has not done much on creating awareness among the people on rainwater harvesting.
Awareness of water harvesting needs a boost in the state, involving agencies – governmental and non-governmental. Attempts were made in mid-2008 by Henry Lamin of NEHU together with resource persons from Karnataka. However, it did not really kick off due to lack of participation from the implementing authorities and the would-be useful seminar ended up as a report shelved in the University’s library.
Experts have pointed out that if proper harvesting of rain water is done in the State, it will be sufficient for uninterrupted supply to five times the present population of the city throughout the year.
Pointing out that the State is blessed with the highest amount of rainfall, Principal Secretary of Soil and Water Conservation PBO Warjri had rued the fact that the State has not been able to retain this blessing.
“The total amount of water which precipitates in Meghalaya either goes to Bangladesh or the Brahmaputra. We are able to retain very less water,” Warjri had stated during a function.
“Estimates point out that a mere 1.6 per cent of the total precipitation is being retained in the State. This is a small margin if we compare the amount of rainfall we receive,” Warjri had said.
The Government though should do more to make rainwater harvesting a reality. Also time is ripe on part of the city residents to move out of the ‘bribe the local plumber mindset’ and urge the authotities to come out with something concrete in order to minimise, if not solve completely, the crisis arising due to scarcity of water. (By Lamphrang Nongspung)