By HH Mohrmen
October 2 every year has become a day where we symbolically remind ourselves of the need to keep our localities and cities clean. It matters not even if a moment after the locality is cleaned, irresponsible elements in the society would carelessly litter the place again. Yet one must appreciate the good intentions of all concerned. Unfortunately this time around no one dared to even try and clean the Wah Umkhrah. People still continue to organise cleanliness drive in different localities of Shillong but Wah Umkhrah is now becoming a touch-me-not project.
The reason is because all efforts to clean Wah Umkhrah which were organised by the State Government or the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council became futile exercises. Are we all tired of trying to save Wah Umkhrah? Has Wah Umkhrah reached the point of no return where it is now impossible to reclaim the river? Is Wah Umkhrah going to suffer the same fate that the holy river Ganga had met where even after more than several hundred crore rupees were spent to clean it, its waters continue to be a polluted?
The Wah Myntdu which surrounds Jowai too would have suffered the same fate had it not been for the efforts made by the Jaintia Fishing and Environment Protection Society and the National Green Tribunal order on a petition filed by Saje Laloo. JFEPS which is an organisation of anglers in Jaintia Hills is instrumental in protecting the aquatic lives all along the river Myntdu vide the order passed on the petition filed by Saje Laloo. The NGT has prohibited construction of any structure 500 meters from its banks on both sides, all along the river. It also prohibits washing of vehicles on both sides of the rivers and closed all car washing units which do not treat the polluted water they generate.
At least the portion of Myntdu around Jowai will not suffer the same fate like the Wah Umkhrah if the District Administration is serious about implementing the order in letter and spirit. But the question is what about the other rivers in the State?
Reports on the release of the book Meghalaya Rivers by the two brothers Joe and Dan Rea-Dickens and Zorba Laloo had illustrated the potential of water sports in the state. It is also known to all in Meghalaya and in Jaintia hills in particular that rivers are the mainstay of our tourism be it in Shnongpdeng, Darang, Krangshuri or Sua ladong. The rivers therefore are not only our lifelines but they could also be sources of sustainable livelihoods if we only treat them properly.
As reported in the media a video shown before the release of the book has confirmed what has been highlighted earlier that most of the rivers in the area are acidic. And the condition of the rivers in the District which is now bifurcated into East and West would have improved after the NGT ban on illegal mining, but unfortunately coal mining still continues even now without regulations. The most important question is whether we will ever see our dead river coming to live again?
What have the Autonomous District Councils in the state done to protect these rivers? After all rivers fall within the ambit of the District Councils. The Jaiñtia Hills Autonomous District Council is only interested in leasing the river for mass fishing to the highest bidder even if it had done nothing to protect the same. Now this raises a very important question which is – why there was a need for NGT to intervene? It is because of the failure of our very own ADCs to protect the river. And thankfully in Jowai; the NGT has helped save river Myntdu from becoming another Wah Umkhrah.
The ADC has not only failed to protect our rivers but questions can also be asked as to what they have done to protect the forests particularly those which are in private lands? This is because the forests in the private land are under the purview of the ADCs as per the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. An elderly man I travelled with to Nartiang some days ago, while crossing the river Myntang, pointed out that the river has already become shallow even if it is only early October. The reason, according to the man, is because the forest cover along the river has dwindled.
So why did the ADCs not come up with rules to protect our forests? And we all know rivers and forests (particularly in the catchment areas) and the rivers are like two sides of the same coin; one cannot exist without the other. Alas coming up with these rules will not help make the Chief Executive Member popular or he will not be extolled as the protector of the Jaidbynriew. Or are we seeing CEMs taking up issues that will only arouse the emotions of the people which will also help propel them further in their political careers?
At one time when the present incumbent of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council was the CEM, a scheme which encouraged families to give birth to more children was introduced. The scheme also undertakes that the Council would provide such family with rice. When this writer rephrased the saying that man does not live by food alone and questioned if the KHADC will also provide the children education and their other daily needs, the scheme died a death.
The point is – how are we going to live in this beautiful land if all the rivers are either dry or polluted? What is there for our children to enjoy if our entire forests are gone and our hills are barren? This is not exaggeration; we are seeing this happen with our own eyes and on a daily basis. Our rivers and our forests particularly those owned by the community, the clan or individuals are continuously being plundered by certain elements.
The urgent need of the hour is to protect our forest and by protecting our forests we also ensure water flows on the rivers. And as mentioned the District Councils have done precious little on this front. In fact it was the Community Reserve Forests – a state government scheme which encourages the community to protect their sacred groves or community forests. Now many of these forests are registered as community reserved forest and the community took the responsibility to protect the same.
My humble experience of working with the communities on different issues, be it environment conservation or livelihoods has taught me one very important lesson – it will be difficult to reclaim that which has been lost. Or even if we are able to reclaim it; it will not be the same again and Wah Umkhrah is one classic case in point. Though we earnestly hope that we will one day be able to save Wah Umkhrah but the fact remains that even if we can do so it will never be the same again.
The takeaway from this is that we need to protect and conserve as much forests, rivers and water sources as we can before it is too late. We are fortunate that we still have some of these rivers which are still good and we have enough forest cover to provide water to sustain these rivers. There are communities which are doing just that, and only this will ensure that Meghalaya remains a liveable land in the future.
Otherwise where is the need to have Inner Line Permits to protect our land, or what is the need of maintaining the lineage from pure blood only if your land is dry and the air that blows on the hills are no longer good for breathing. We can’t live without water and air and we don’t want to breathe poisonous air and use polluted water. And the only answer to that is more forests produce more water.