By Aafaque Hussain
Water scarcity is a common phenomenon in
Shillong city and the residents of Pyntho
rumkhrah and Nongmynsong are the worst sufferers when it comes to water scarcity.
Though this cannot be termed as a complete scarcity as of now but the trend has remained same in the area for the past few years now.
Residents say that there have been many occasions where the unavailability of water lead to fights and quarrel in the area.
The people face undue sufferings due to water scarcity in areas like Nongmynsong and nearby areas.
The PHE department is the nodal agency for water, and the water is supplied in bulk quantity to the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) which is then distributed to various households in the city and to tackle that, the PHE department in the year 2000 had installed bulk water metering systems in various tanks of the city from where the water is supplied to various pockets of the city.
The situation is so grim that people in Nongmynsong area are forced to buy water at a very high rate which is too tough to bear for a poor family.
“A poor family cannot spend Rs 30 on two buckets of water which they have to buy for their daily needs,” a resident said.
Though some water Supply Schemes are nearing its commissioning, it seems that the people will have to bear the sufferings for some more time atleast till the projects are commissioned.
The completion of the much anticipated GSWSS Phase III funded under the JNNURM is expected to address the water scarcity problem.
If one goes by the word of the residents, though some public taps were made in the area, but now even those are broken and have become a showpiece without even a single drop of water.
It is time that the Government does something to solve the water scarcity not only in Nongmynsong but in the entire city as different pockets of the city often face the problem of water scarcity.