World Environment Day has become a charade with too many short term programmes lined up in the month of June. Since most programmes are conducted by the Government there is no attempt to measure their efficacy or impact. Data on how many trees were planted in Meghalaya in 2015 on WED; how many survived; how many were eaten up by cows, goats and other animals would be interesting. Also the amount spent each year to celebrate WED and the tangible and intangible outcomes from such spending would give a fair idea of the seriousness of the Department of Forests & Environment in increasing the green cover of Meghalaya. From what is visible around the city things are not hunky dory. The forest canopy over Shillong city stretching from Laitkor forest all the way to Lumparing ridge is dwindling, with public representatives themselves demanding that such areas be vacated for use as parks and other public spaces.
Meghalaya’s problem has always been that its elected representatives take stances that are adversarial to the larger public good in an attempt to appease their supporters. Whether it is about coal and limestone mining or about safeguarding our natural resources like rivers etc from large scale pollution, politicians have chosen to align themselves with those who exploit the earth and pollute the rivers, rather than stand in solidarity with environmental activists who seek to defend the earth. Politicians have a very short-term, tunnel vision aimed at political survival for five years at a time. Hence all their actions also point to this short term gain. Time and again we hear the State Chief Minister speak of revenue loss from coal mining. Till date we have not heard him spell out an imaginative framework for raising revenue from other sources that do not destruct the environment. So can the people of Meghalaya rely on politicians for their future survival? Of course politicians will be invited to every WED function and mouth platitudes there. But, there is such a huge gap between what they say and what they do that they convince no one. It’s a case of wasted words and wasted time.
The people of Shillong now have to rally together and save the forests of Lumparing and the adjoining ridges from being overtaken by encroachers and the accomplices of politicians. That forest cover feeds the rivers and provides drinking water to this whole city. Shillongites owe it to themselves to physically defend their environment instead of just talking about it. Also its time to stop the charade of a celebration called World Environment Day.