BY Toki Blah
The Shillong Times of August 26, 2017 carried a news item regarding the launching of a Hackathon in the state of Meghalaya. I, for one was thoroughly stumped as this was the first instance one had ever come across such a word. The New International Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary was of no help. Ultimately some friends who apparently kept abreast with the latest development in the world of digitised English informed me that the word stood for an event where computer programmers , graphic designers and project managers collaborate intensively on any given software project. The Shillong Hackathon will apparently focus and collaborate on solutions to problems such as waste management, traffic management, unsatisfactory electricity supply, poor water supply, housing etc., issues that have plagued and tormented us all for so long. Problems perhaps where hardware and financing are not so difficult to get but where the soft skills of cooperation and collaboration within the various agencies of the state are sorely missing. It is of course a state Govt proposal for the benefit of the citizens of this state, and that is simply one part of the problem. Out of previous experience we therefore expect the KHADC and the Synjuk ki Rangbah Shnong ka Bri U Hynniewtrep or whatever they call themselves, to immediately maintain their distance from this devilish attempt to usurp their 6th Schedule jurisdiction and status. Confrontation is the key word in Meghalaya. Cooperation, collaboration and understanding is strictly for the birds!
One of the key issues for the Hackathon to address is cleanliness and waste management. Shillong’s inability to manage waste (how to collect it, how to transport it and its friendly environmental disposal) is rapidly becoming the biggest environmental problem and hazard we are facing today. Everyone blames the Government for this looming disaster, forgetting in the process, that there are other equally responsible institutions for management of the city’s waste; institutions that have prevented a specific civic institution called the Municipality from addressing the city’s civic needs: and that in the final analysis, the Govt is of our own making and that each one of us make up what is called Government. So no one is to blame but ourselves! But there are people out there who fiercely insist (why, how and on what grounds is a mystery) that the state Government is a hostile entity out to destroy our indigenous make up and identity. Mystery is why should these very same people then contest the next MLA elections so that they can form the next Government, which immediately will be dubbed anti- people ? It’s stupid; it’s outrageous; its sheer hypocrisy; there is no other word for it. Tragedy is that, as an electorate, we simply relish such double political talk!
The Sunday supplement of the ST, Aug 27, 2017 has highlighted the plight of the Umiam lake. We, that is all of us, are turning a picturesque water body into the biggest septic tank in the world. The Wah Umkhrah is the sewer that empties into it. The river has turned into a sewer but any community initiative to clean up both lake and river will immediately run up against a stone wall. The Secretariat babus, especially in the Urban affairs, will simply produce a snort of contempt. The KHADC will claim ownership and jurisdiction. “Keep away, don’t touch that river. It is ours and only we can do anything about it!.” The traditional institutions led specifically by their Synjuks, which more or less have shamelessly shed off all political neutrality, will back up such claims of ownership and 6th Schedule status. But the whole issue is not about ownership. The poor river needs cleaning up and if you are the owner then clean it up ! What’s your problem?
The problem of development or should one say underdevelopment in Meghalaya is the refusal of its social / political institutions to work together. Take the current MUDA imbroglio for instance. What difference does it make as to who imposes building regulations. The objective is to ensure strong resilient structures to safeguard residents against disasters? Will a 7.5 richter scale quake respect KHADC jurisdiction and spare the miserable and technically unsupervised structures within 6th Schedule areas? True that MUDA permission fees are excessively high. So tell the Govt to bring it down. What prevents us from doing so? It’s a sin to play politics with the safety of the innocent public. They don’t deserve it even if it means winning elections for a few. It’s absurd to suspect your own elected Govt of encroachment into 6th Schedule areas. This is just a political gimmick and we fall for it. Surprisingly there is total absence of protest when Government spends money for rural development. Let us be very clear about one thing. The people who created this whole idea of encroachment into 6th Schedule areas are current sitting MDCs. If by chance they all do become MLAs and (Isha Allah) ministers of the Government after 2018, will they still continue to oppose MUDA? It’s a very safe bet they will not. It will also be very clear then that once again we have been fooled. Once again we have been led up the garden path. When will we ever learn?
One of the questions before the Hackathon is how to manage our solid waste. It’s a complicated problem but let this write-up attempt a solution at one aspect of the problem. Our shnongs/ localities are very familiar with the concept of ‘Ka Pynkhuid shnong.’ Once or twice a year we all come out of our respective houses to clean up the locality we live in. We claim it’s a traditional practice. Now why can’t this traditional practice be taken to its logical modern conclusion and each household encouraged to do it daily? “Impossible. Simply impossible !” will be the reaction to such a proposal, but hang on a minute and allow me to explain. It is the routine and daily chore of every household in Shillong, rich or poor, tribal or non tribal, to sweep the house and compound everyday. Now why can’t this chore be extended to the footpath and the patch of road in front of every house, irrespective from where and who litters that patch. You do it for your house, the neighbour to the left and the neighbour to the right as well as the neighbour opposite the road, do for their own houses, and voila, the whole street is kept clean every day.
A question arises, how does the household then dispose of what it has cleaned? Here is where the dorbar steps in to ensure sustainable waste disposal based on economic practicalities. Through paid local workers (unemployed youth of the locality), segregation of waste at every household is ensured. These paid workers collect the segregated waste as well as report to the shnong violations and non cooperation if any. Thus segregation is enforced by the shnong. Each household pays a monthly fee for this waste management concept. This is no proposal for a new tax. Actually every shnong outside SMB is doing it. The workers then ensure that the segregated waste is collected and transported by specifically designated degradable waste and non degradable waste trucks. The practice is enforced by the shnong unlike the present unrealistic and unfounded faith of the SMB on its inspectors which doesn’t work!
Both degradable and non degradable waste have a ready market. Degradable waste simply needs space and time before it turns into organic manure to be sold off to compost hungry gardeners within the city itself. Non degradable waste, like plastic bags, water bottles, glass and scrap metal etc are sold off by the kilo for recycling. Tons of non degradable waste is collected and sold off at Marten everyday and provides livelihoods to hundreds of people. The market needs to be identified and the proceeds for sale of both degradable and non degradable waste will contribute to the funds of the shnong and the sustainability of the concept. The trick is not to see waste (niut) as waste per se, but as an economic resource that can bring in revenue (kaba lah ban wanrah pisa). Give it this economic perspective and see the enthusiasm of those who can make a livelihood out of it. Its bound to spread like wild fire!