MAWKYRWAT: In another incident of arson, a compressor vehicle belonging to the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) was set on fire on Thursday night even as the local KSU leader questioned the intention of the authorities concerned in bringing in the machines.
The vehicle with Assam registration number was parked on the Wah Umngi bridge, 15 km from Mawkyrwat, and was supposed to bore wells for the PHE Department. It was torched around 9.30pm by a group of unidentified miscreants, said district police chief HG Lyngdoh, adding that the miscreants did not damage the drilling rig.
“During the incident, one labourer sustained minor injury as the window pane cut his finger,” Lyngdoh said, adding that all the labourers and officials of CGWB left Mawkyrwat on Friday.
According to the FIR filed by the Assistant Executive Engineer of CGWB Division-VII, AK Dosh, the employees of the board are camping at Umngi river bridge for repairing of the rig vehicle when five to six men armed with sharp weapons entered into their tent and started manhandling the staff around 9.30pm. They damaged and burnt the vehicles but no one suffered major injuries.
Deputy Commissioner Isawanda Laloo said under the National Aquifer Mapping and Management Plan Programme, CGWB explores ground water in different districts of Meghalaya and after successful completion of the bore wells, it hands them over to the PHE Department for water supply to the public.
“Under this programme, the Central Ground Water Board has covered Ri Bhoi, East Garo Hills, East Jaintia Hills, West Jaintia Hills and East Khasi Hills districts in the past years,” Laloo said, adding that the vehicles were on their way to Mawkyrwat for drilling in villages identified by the PHE Department at Jakrem, Mawten and Photjaud Rangthong with the consent of and NOC from village authorities.
However, one of the vehicles broke down at Wah Umngi Bridge.
In the last two days before the incident, KSU members had approached the office of the Executive Engineer PHE and asked him to remove the trucks thinking those were meant for uranium drilling, the DC informed.
“It was clarified that the machines are to be used for drinking water drilling purposes in a controlled manner under the supervision of the PHE Department to address issues of water shortage in many parts of the district,” she said.
Police are on the job to find out the culprits who were involved in the Wahkaji and Mawthabah incidents in which scientists of the Atomic Mineral Division (AMD) were assaulted and vehicles torched and also those involved in Thursday night’s incident. However, the SP told that till now no arrest has been made.
Laloo said after the incident at Wahkaji and Mawthabah, she had a meeting with KSU leaders in her office and she had clarified on the matter and stressed that any concerns that the union had could be brought to her notice and due enquiry would be taken up.
She had also made it clear that no instances of violation of law or threats to public order and safety would be tolerated from any person or group.
KSU condemns police action
The KSU South West Khasi Hills unit has condemned the action of the police department for forcefully entering the house of the union’s vice -president, Shemphang Nonglang, at Rangblang village which it said has caused fear psychosis in the family.
The president of the KSU South West Khasi Hills, Forwardman Nongrem, said police forcefully entered the house twice on Thursday night, first around 7pm and later around 1am. “If the district administration through the police department continues to enter the house of our members with the intention of picking them up, it will not frighten us, instead it will make us stronger as we are ready to fight against uranium mining till our last breath,” he said.
The KSU leader said the union demanded clarification from Laloo on who gave permission to AMD to drill uranium and why machines were at Mawthabah. He also demanded the arrest of the AMD officers and workers who had come to mine uranium without the permission of the state government or the district council.
The KSU also questioned the presence of drilling machine of CGWB. “We have made it clear to the Deputy Commissioner and the PHE Department that the union is against the idea since it was the district administration and the PHE that had earlier banned drilling of ground water in the district,” Nongrem said.
