By Flourette G Dkhar
The 5th of June… Shillongites wake up to another World Environment Day! A day set apart globally to remember mother earth. We are blessed with so much of grandeur that nature has to offer especially at this time of the year – the different shades of green, the colourful blossoms, the cool temperature after every shower and the freshness in the air that we breathe. This is what the outskirts and the surroundings of Shillong have to give to each one of us. Is it not beautiful!
But what happens as one approaches the city from Guwahati? It was said that for our comfort, the long winding road has to be shortened to cut down on the number of hours of travel. Hence hills are mercilessly cut, and gradually the greenery has disappeared. Many of us, who have lived here for decades recall the natural beauty, which is now lost! And ‘Oh the difference it is to me!’
Our pride the Umiam Lake which with its picturesque scenic beauty is now a shocking sight. The water level has gone down so low, that now instead of water we see the small connecting patches of land all over. Where has all the water disappeared? Raise your voice not the sea level! Wake up Shillong! Wake up!
As one continues the drive up the majestic hills clothed in their natural splendour we savour the beauty of nature. But what happens when we look at the road? The natural beauty is gradually eroded. A common sight now is, dirt, filth, heaps of the ‘unwanted’ from our houses, construction sites and rotten vegetables and consumable items which get dumped all along the road side. What more do we see? Heaps of garbage, polythene bags, plastic bottles, plastic wrappings strewn here and there. A disgusting sight indeed! The rains at present have done more harm than good to this place by adding to the stench emanating from the heaps of waste. When it does not rain, the poisonous fumes from the burning of waste materials in the heart of the city, further pollutes the air. The dirt and filth has spilled over to the roads. It is a prelude to what visitors will witness as they reach the city, once acclaimed as the ‘Scotland of the East.’
While in the city, the ‘Motphran’ and its surroundings – the Iew Mawlong, and the Tirot Sing road leading to Police Bazar, to name a few, are places where you will not want to tread upon or be proud to take your friends to who visit here or the first time. Looks like it “Throw whatever you want to throw, do what ever you want to do is the accepted life style of people here.” Does it reflect that Shillongites have no civic sense? That in Shillong there are no schools, no colleges, no universities, no educational institutions to teach civic lessons? That there is no law and order! That one is free to do whatever one wishes? Was this once the educational hub of the North East? What is its status now?
It is not that the citizens are not concerned with the issue or that they do not talk about it. We engage ourselves in this kind of conversation every now and then but most of us end up by saying, what do we do? And it ends there. We blame the government and feel that it is somebody else’s job. With more education we have become more self – centred. If we continue with this, then ponder for a while what will happen after a week, after a month, after a year, after many years. What will happen to our beloved Shillong?
We appreciate the activities taken up by the Government but something more also needs to be done. The initiatives taken by NGOs and by young citizens who have tried to bring a difference to the place are noteworthy. Different activities will be taken up today in different schools, colleges, universities, educational institutions, government offices, NGOs etc. along with the initiatives taken up by the Meghalaya Basin Development Authority in association with the State Forest Department to, “create awareness to change the people’s attitude towards the environment'( Shillong Times, June 1st 2014, pg, 10)
Adults, parents, teachers, elders, brothers, sisters , young and old let us be part of this endeavour for a better, greener, and cleaner environment. What values do we teach the younger ones? A simple example – we are known for keeping our houses and compounds clean and tidy, but what happens on the road in front of the house? Are we bothered? Throwing anything from moving cars/vehicles is a common behaviour. What we as adults do gets reflected in the behaviour of our younger ones.
In 1991, one Mr M.C. Mehta filed a public interest litigation (PIL) asking the Supreme Court to: (1) issue direction to cinema halls that they show slides with information on the environment; (2) issue direction for the spread of information relating to the environment on All India Radio; and (3) issue direction that the study of the environment become a compulsory subject in schools and colleges. So much has been said and done but when we look around, the situation is deteriorating. Worse than what it was ten years ago!
Principals, teachers, and teacher educators play a pivotal role in this. Let the education that we impart through Environmental Studies to our young students be more of creating awareness, inculcating good habits, changing the attitudes, developing strong civic sense in them. For example, as teachers do we observe where our children throw their rubbish? Is it in the corner of the room? Or from the window? Or outside the dustbin if it is provided in the classroom? How neat and clean is the school, the compound, the approach to the school, the surroundings should be important criteria for assessing the child’s initiative in the internal markings. Let the subject on Environmental Studies be a vibrant and a living one.
I urge upon the government to continue and improve the good work that it is doing now by having municipal trucks to collect our garbage from our houses and localities. It would also be a good idea to have a flying squad which should impose fines on the violators, as suggested by Barnes Mawrie in one of his articles in The Shillong Times. The Government should also impose fines on vehicles whose inmates stop anywhere to urinate which is a very indecent and common scene especially on the GS road.
The Rangbah Shnong may, in addition to the initiatives taken by the government should start a policy whereby each household should be asked to contribute a minimum amount every month and the money collected should be used in monitoring daily the cleanliness in their locality. If everyone is a part of this effort then it will also make everyone conscious of protecting the environment and keeping it clean. Pastors, Priests, Maulanas, the Seng Khasi, the Sein Jaintia, the Students Unions, let us all ‘raise our voices’ and strive together to achieve this common goal.
In the midst of despair a ray of hope flickers where we have some of the localities in and outside of Shillong from which we can learn our lessons. For instance during the 42nd Meghalaya Day celebrated on the 21st of January, 2014, Jaiaw Shyiap & Lum Pyllon got the first prize of Rs. 1 lakh and Cleave Colony the second prize of Rs. 50,000, under the Clean and Green Meghalaya Award. Yes, with Jaiaw Shyiap and Lum Pyllon not being the first timers in this. Another village is Mawkasiang about 12-13 kms away from Shillong, where you will not find any litter on the road, for after a gap of every 15- 20 meters you will find the “Use me” bins which are not seen in many of the other localities in Shillong.
While we are proud of Mawlynnong village (known as Asia’s cleanest village) let us strive to make all our localities and surrounding areas clean too. Let this day not end up only in planting more trees and in having literary activities in academic institutions but let it be a pledge that each one of us as citizens of this beautiful city takes to raise our voices to protect and restore the lost beauty and cleanliness of our much loved city. Shillongites! Wake up from this slumber! Let the global official slogan for this year ‘Raise your voice, not the sea level’ be meaningful as we once again commemorate World Environment Day. The time to act is now so let us all act on it.
(The writer is Associate Professor in Education, NERIE, NCERT, Shillong, and can be reached at [email protected])