Joint Inspection of Umshing River
SHILLONG: Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MPSCB) chairman M Allya informed that the board is yet to receive the court order concerning the formation of the joint inspection committee 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.
“We would take necessary step to form the monitoring committee once they received the order,” Allya said here on Saturday.
When ask that the two Dorbar Shnongs of Mawiong Umjapung and Mawiong Rim are contemplating to file an appeal before the court to include them in the monitoring committee, he said that it is good if the two Dorbar Shnong are members of the committee since they are the aggrieved party.
While hearing the petition of the filed by the Rangbah Shnong of Mawiong Umjapung and Mawiong Rim, the High Court of Meghalaya on April 8 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 abbattoir.
The court also ordered the MSPCB to form a committee to monitor and to see that the river is not polluted during the construction or operation of the abattoir.
The court also observed that if the river is polluted, immediate preventive measures should be taken accordingly even as directing the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board 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.
Earlier, in the petition, the two Dorbar Shnongs have alleged due to construction 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 oppositions from the Joint Executive Committee of the Dorbar Shnong Mawiong Umjapung and Mawiong Rim with regards to its construction.
On May last year, the two Dorbar Shnongs had 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.