SHILLONG: United Nations award winning environmentalist Afroz Shah on Thursday launched a clean-up drive in Shillong starting with the Umkaliar river which is the up-stream of Wah Umkhrah.
The Umkaliar’s bed is filled with enormous amount of garbage like plastics, sacks and clothes.
The drive comes ahead of the 75th anniversary celebration of The Shillong Times on August 10. The year-long celebration is dedicated to the theme ‘clean environment.’
Shah will also be addressing the inaugural function of The Shillong Times Platinum Jubilee celebration at the U Soso Tham auditorium.
Union DoNER Minister Jitendra Singh will inaugurate the platinum jubilee celebrations and Chief Minister Conrad Sangma will be the chief guest.
At 3 pm the same day he will make a special presentation to college and university students at St. Anthony’s College auditorium.
cleaning drive at Umkaliar in the city on Thursday. (ST)
For Shah, cleaning rivers is nothing new and he is now attracting young people to take up the mantle of getting rid of plastic menace on river beds.
On his Shillong experience, he said, “Absolutely amazing and this is what is required for Mother Nature. This river is crying for help. Our lifestyle has got us here.”
According to him, rivers face three problems — liquid waste, solid waste and people’s mindset — and the aim is to get people together and change the mindset after getting the first-hand experience of cleaning a river.
According to him, the government should take steps to put up sewage treatment plants (STPs) and people should be given training on tackling the menace faced by rivers.
The plan is to have a clean-up every month to start with. For the purpose, his team has already floated a Facebook page to highlight the matter and once it builds up, the cleaning can be done every week.
cleaning drive at Umkaliar in the city on Thursday. (ST)
Recalling that he has cleaned a river in Mumbai which was far worse than the Umkaliar, he pointed out that methods of cleaning a river and a beach are different but the common sight in the water bodies is garbage made up of plastic etc.
Stressing on the role of citizens to inculcate a sense of belonging, Shah said, “We are experimenting on the first day. Like in Mumbai, we started with cleaning beaches, and then we went on to mangroves. We also create awareness. Young people should go back and make changes.”
On the plastic tsunami in River Umiam, he said, “It is the worst thing that can happen to our planet. It is very depressing news. I feel pain and sorrow.”
As a message, he said people can show their love for the state of Meghalaya by coming out to clean the environment.
Shah pointed to the dupattas, shorts and plastics taken out from the river bed. A JCB was used to clear the huge pile of garbage. School students stood on both sides to carry away the sacks filled with garbage from the river.
Students from St. Anthony’s College, Women’s College, Martin Luther Christian University, Seven Set School, members of Shillong Lajong Football Club and other organisations were part of the cleaning drive.
Meanwhile, a lady who makes a living by removing the sand, pebbles near the quarry above the cleaning place told reporters that residents release septic tanks into the river usually in the morning.
Though no plastic was seen in this part of the river, people were, however, seen washing vehicles.