SHILLONG: The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Dorbar Shnong Mawiong Umjapung and Mawiong Rim are likely to appeal before the High Court of Meghalaya to include the two Dorbar Shnong in the joint inspection committee to be instituted by the Meghalaya Pollution Control Board (MPSC) to ensure that Umshing River is not polluted in view of the construction and operation of the abattoir of the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary department at Mawlai Mawiong.
While hearing the petition filed by the Rangbah Shnong of Mawiong Umjapung and Mawiong Rim, the High Court of Meghalaya on April 8 last had passed an order directing the State Government to take necessary steps to ensure that the Umshing River was not polluted by the construction of the abattoir.
The court also observed that if the river is polluted, immediate preventive measures should be taken accordingly even as directing the MPSCB to include one member of the Central Pollution Board to ensure that the Umshing River is free from any kind of pollution.
“The State Government should comply with this order strictly keeping in mind the interest of the inhabitants residing in and around area as well as their health hazard,” the court stated in the order.
Meanwhile, Mawiong Rim Rangbah Shnong SL Nongpiur said that they are likely to appeal before the High Court to include the two Dorbar Shnong in the joint inspection committee.
“We are going to meet our lawyer on Tuesday to discuss this matter,” Nongpiur informed on Monday.
He however said that the two Dorbar Shnong are delighted by this judgment of the High Court.
“We had filed this writ petition in 2001 to protest this project. We had filed the writ petition after the waste from the construction site had polluted the Umshing River,” Nongpiur said.
He also said that Umshing River is the only source of water supply for the residents of the two localities adding that the discharge of affluent from the abattoir into the river might also lead to serious health hazard.
Earlier, in the petition, the two Dorbar Shnongs have alleged that due to construction works as part of the project, massive flow of loose soils and accumulation of hazardous pollutants have totally polluted the river.
It may be recalled that the Rs 22-crore project sanctioned by the State Government and implemented by the Veterinary department with the purpose of easing the burden of the butchers in and around the city suffered many setbacks on several intervals due to opposition from the Joint Executive Committee of the Dorbar Shnong Mawiong Umjapung and Mawiong Rim.
On May last, the two Dorbar Shnongs had even sought the court’s intervention into the controversies over the construction of the slaughter house at Mawlai Mawiong, asking the Gauhati High Court, Shillong Bench to issue a stay-order on the on-going construction of the abattoir.