GUWAHATI: A holistic approach is the only way out to clean the Wahumkhrah and Umshyrpi rivers, the water quality of which has gone down substantially over the decades, environmentalists here say.
“A holistic approach involving intervention at the sources of the two rivers near Laitkor and all the way to Umiam where they empty out, to prevention of dumping of all forms of waste into the rivers, to putting in place stringent deterrents, is the only way out to keep the rivers clean,” Naba Bhattacharjee, chairman of the Meghalaya People’s Environment Rights Forum, told The Shillong Times on Tuesday.
The two rivers pass through the heart of Shillong, a city grappling with pollution triggered by urban congestion. Meghalaya urban affairs minister, Hamletson Dohling had informed the Assembly on Monday that the National Water Monitoring Programme has placed the water quality of the rivers in ‘E’ category, indicating that it was fit only for irrigation, industrial cooling and controlled waste disposal.
Dohling had told the House that the urban affairs department was fencing the two rivers at strategic points to prevent dumping of garbage while garbage traps have been installed in six different outfalls of the Umshyrpi to prevent solid waste from being carried downstream.
“I appreciate the state government for showing seriousness in cleaning the rivers. As a matter of fact, things have improved after I had filed a PIL in the National Green Tribunal (OA No. 146 of 2015) in regard to protection and rejuvenation of Wahumkhrah, Umshyrpi and Umiam,” Bhattacharjee said.
The Shillong Municipal Board, he said, has done a better job following the PIL in regard to collection and disposal of garbage.
The minister also informed the Assembly that 60 hotels, 19 guest houses and lodges, 37 restaurants, 14 automobile servicing centres and 11 hospitals have installed effluent treatment plants while 35 households along the streams and tributaries were issued with notices for direct discharge of sewage.
“What the minister is doing is encouraging but the civil society too must be involved in keeping the rivers clean. Apart from awareness among the settlements near the banks of the rivers, the authorities have to ensure that at least 10 metres of space from the edge of the rivers on either bank is kept free from construction or activity,” the environmentalist said.
In regard to garbage traps, Bhattacharjee said they could be a solution if only they are maintained on a daily basis. “Otherwise, there is a possibility of clogging and subsequent flooding,” he said.
Green activists have time and again raised concern over direct dumping of sewerage and medical waste into both the rivers, although there has been an apparent reduction of such “mindless” disposal of late.
There are around 4,000 households near the two streams that directly discharge wastes into them.
Bhattacharjee was also apprehensive of the risk posed to Umiam lake where the two rivers join and empty out. “If there is a breach, then the entire Ri Bhoi district will be flooded. So, the mindset of people too has to change to foresee such risks and mend their ways,” he said.
