AH Scott Lyngdoh hopes a swim fest at Umiam Lake would rekindle Meghalaya’s love for clean water bodies
IT WAS my good fortune to have flagged off 24 swimmers aged between 10 and 63 on November 10 at Umiam Lake. From one end of the lake to the other, with sheer commitment and dedication, the swimmers swam along a 1.2km stretch. This was no small feat.
Congratulations to the Meghalaya Swimming Association, led by its president Joe Marwein and general secretary Ian Khongmen, for organizing such a program to ‘Save Our Aquatic Eco-Systems’. Surprisingly, swimming even in its most rudimentary form has not caught up with the majority of the local population, in spite of the extensive river systems and fishing as a popular past time.
Shillong should have set the pace with the first swimming pool coming up in 1942 by the British Army. After the war and up to the 50’s, the boarders of Loreto Convent, Pine Mount and St. Edmund’s schools mainly used the said facility. What a treat it was those days, mingling in friendly competition, the boys doing their best to impress the girls and everyone participating in the merry making of the many occasions that took place at the swimming pool.
When St. Edmund’s and Loreto gave up boarding, popularity and maintenance of the pool also went down for a considerable period. It was left to a few enthusiasts like Michael Syiem who did their bit to re-establish the pool as a place worth visiting. The Meghalaya Swimming Association has done well to focus on Umiam Lake as the state’s major water world.
Unmindful of the murky waters, the swimmers tarried on, alternating between the breaststroke, back stroke and free-style while being cheered on by the parents and supporters in the accompanying speedboats. It was also nice to have observed that on reaching the finish, the participants did not seem to look tired or worn out, but appeared filled with a sense of achievement.
The message of the association is loud and clear – get on with the job to clean up the Wah Umkhrah, the Umshirpi and the other streams which are daily polluting the lake, lest it becomes non-functional at some not too distant date. Another serious matter is sand quarrying in the Umtyngar area, causing heavy siltation to the Mawphlang Dam. It is for the authorities who are aware of the dangers to act without further procrastination. Cheers to the glorious swimming participants in leading the way.