By Our Special Correspondent
Sohra: A two-day retreat to delve into the plethora of issues concerning the use and conservation of water was organised by the Meghalaya Water Foundation (MWF) at the Polo Orchid Hotel premises at Sohra. The retreat involving various stakeholders from Government , civil society and the Meghalaya Water Development Agency, Meghalaya Institute of Governance amongst others is being animated by social scientist and international trainer Rathindra Roy.
The two-day retreat will reflect on the aspirations and dreams of the MWF, how it could add value and make a difference to the way the water protocol is organised in Meghalaya.
President of the MWF, Phrang Roy, speaking at the inaugural session said that in this century there are two defining crises – water and its availability and climate change and that the solutions of the 20th century were no longer appropriate today. Mr Roy pointed to the fact that water is a dwindling resource but one that was treated as something perennial.
“Today people across the world calculate the water footprints and try to cut down on them. We have looked at water from a short view point and have not taken a historical view of our lives despite the fact that our lives are defined by water,” Phrang Roy said adding that for indigenous people water is not just a commodity but has a spiritual and cultural value and afforded common access.
Mr RM Mishra, Principal Secretary, Planning and the person who is driving the Basin Development and Livelihoods Project said there is much that could happen around water, depending on the ingenuity of the people of the state. “We need to focus on things beyond our individual needs. People need to get emotionally involved in the process of conservation and use of water. Traditional knowledge should be documented and made actionable,” Mishra said. He pointed out that people need to take charge of how they manage water and the eco-system because this task cannot be outsourced.
Additional Chief Secretary, PBO Warjri who was also the chief guest at the function remarked that some water sources need to be rejuvenated. “If we have played a part in destruction we also need to revive the availability of water. Institutions need to look at water with a new set of eyes. Water is free but we have to add value to it and traditional institutions need to exercise social control and protect water sources.” Warjri said adding that there is need to identify ways in which water is lost and address those.
Pointing to the need for multi-stake-holdership to ensure that all are aware about the importance of water, Warjri said it was important to focus both on quality and quantity of water available and called for greater flexibility in the way institutions worked. Warjri said that it was time to see if new institutions need to be created and new capacities built for better water governance.
After the inaugural session, Rathindra Roy the animator made the participants brainstorm on the nature of the problem that surrounds water and how Meghalaya Water Foundation could address those.
Dr Arvind Kumar of the India Water Foundation also spoke at the inaugural session.