SHILLONG: The Water Resource Department along with the Meghalaya Water Resource Development Agency organised a one-day workshop on “Designing Springshed Management for Meghalaya” here on Tuesday.
The workshop was held to deliberate on ways to sustain and rejuvenate the dried-up and drying springs in the State.
It may be mentioned that springs are the fundamental source of drinking water, sanitation and irrigation for the majority of the rural populace. However, with changing climatic conditions and rainfall pattern, a large number of villages and settlements are facing acute water shortage due to drying up of perennial springs. Adding to the woes is also the fact that many of the springs have become seasonal.
Speaking on the occasion, Principal Secretary Agriculture, P Kharkongor advocated the need to make use of the 156 identified micro watersheds under the 10th and 11th Five Year Plans of the Agriculture Department.
“The micro watersheds already have registered watershed committees and these can be used wherever applicable and are found suitable during the survey for the Springshed Development. The Agriculture Department will be happy to collaborate on the matter,” he said.
Earlier, L Shabong of the Soil and Water Conservation said that he hoped that the workshop “will open the eyes” of concerned departments like the State Water Resource Department and the State Soil and Water Conservation Department to act in order to safeguard the springs in all the districts of the state.
The inaugural session of the workshop was followed by technical sessions conducted by resource persons on various perspectives of Springshed Management.