SHILLONG: The road connecting Umpling to Itshyrwat and onwards to the North East Indira Gandhi Regional Institute for Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) is perhaps one of the last remaining pristine areas of suburban Shillong with patches of pine forests which are a stark contrast to the barren landscape of Shillong.
Every morning, health conscious morning walkers and joggers frequent this stretch of road. Shillong is a city with no walkways. Delhi despite being crowded has several wooded parks where people can walk and exercise. It is ironic that the State Forest Department has never thought of such green patches for health walks.
In recent times the 0.80 km stretch of road from near the BSF gate to Itshyrwat is being used as a garbage dump by unscrupulous denizens who think nothing of flinging garbage out of their car windows.
This correspondent rummaged through a plastic bag at the garbage dump to trace out the owner of the bag laden with baby’s disposable nappies, discarded lingerie and a BSNL Mobile phone bill dated September 5, 2013. The Bill is in the name of Mrs HP Ralte, EFCI Centre, Madanrting.
Clearly the polluters are not residents of Umpling and pock-marking the verdant forests. Polluters are passers-by from all parts of Shillong, going towards the Shillong bye-pass or to NEIGRIHMS or beyond and who use the forest as a dumping ground.
Umpling has a very progressive Dorbar Shnong. The executive members sit three times a week to discuss the welfare of the Shnong. Speaking to this correspondent, Umpling Rangbah Shnong, S. Pyngrope said, “We had put up a sign board prohibiting people from throwing garbage all along that road. Our volunteers had even caught some polluters red-handed and the Shnong had fined them heavily but once the vigilance slackens people revert to the same bad habits.” Pyngrope confirms that those who litter are passers-by since the Shnong has an efficient system of collecting garbage.
When asked if the Dorbar had enlisted the help of the BSF whose eastern headquarters is a large campus extending from Umpling to Nongmynsong and which should legitimately extend its corporate social responsibility towards maintaining the cleanliness of Umpling, Pyngrope said they could be involved in the vigilance part, but first the matter has to be mooted to them.
Meanwhile the residents of Umpling whose ‘good mornings’ are disrupted by the mounds of rotten garbage have also decided to get their act together and think of an effective plan of action to catch the polluters at their act.
The District Administration has a plethora of laws that it can implement to deter such polluters provided the Dorbar Shnong draws the attention of the Deputy Commissioner to this menace.
