NONGSTOIN: Raising the slogan “A drop of water is worth more than a sack of gold to a thirsty man” a two-day mass awareness programme was launched at Bishop Hall, Nongstoin in West Khasi Hills District on Tuesday.
The mass awareness programme on ‘Save Water Save Earth’ is being organized by the Department of Water Resources and the Meghalaya Water Resources Development Agency together with the Central Soil and Materials Research Station, New Delhi.
The awareness programme was attended by Director, Central Soil and Materials Research Station, New Delhi, Murari Ratnam, who graced the inaugural function as the chief guest in the presence of Pankaj Sharma and S.L. Gupta, scientists from Central Soil & Material Research Station, New Delhi and Executive Engineer, Water Resources, Nongstoin, L. Sooting, besides school student, teachers and others.
Speaking on the occasion, Ratnam informed that while the population is going up, the volume of water is reducing. “We need to conserve water for the present and the future generation and use it efficiently,” he said.
He added that the mass awareness programme was being organized to sensitize the people of the area to protect water bodies and water sources.
“Water bodies including rivers and streams here, which are the main sources of water, have been badly affected due to coal mining activities. Waste products from coalmines have highly polluted rivers and streams completely affecting aquatic life,” he said.
“We need active participation of the people to stop disposal of waste into river and streams so that these rivers affected by non-degradable waste will be cleaned naturally and the water becomes fit for human consumption,” he added.
On the occasion, a rally was taken out from Bishop Hall, Nongstoin through the market up to New Nongstoin playground where students from various schools along with officials of the programme raised slogans and displayed charts and posters spreading the message of “Save Water Save Life and Save the World”.
After the rally, a fluoride test of the water from Nondein River was conducted by the scientists from Central Soil and Materials Research Station, New Delhi.
The test revealed that the river water was slightly acidic in nature, chloride content was negligible and the hardness of the water was low.
Students were also advised to use separate dustbins for non-degradable and bio-degradable wastes.