SHILLONG: Operation Clean-Up has begun to take wings with several different groups undertaking cleaning drives with a mission. On Saturday Operation Clean-up (OCU) which is focussed on cleaning up the rivers Umkhrah and Umshyrpi by addressing the sources of these two rivers and their flow through various localities, has reached the 8th Phase.
The participants in the Clean-Up comprising school, college and university students and other socially conscious groups have taken this project with no less fervour than those in Mission Impossible. They have been rendering selfless service in the past three months since the OCU started on August 8, to commemorate the Platinum Jubilee of The Shillong Times.
Their single point proposal on reducing waste is for the Government to come up with a complete ban on single use plastics. “If the Government cannot co-operate with us on this objective then how can we succeed in our mission?” they ask.
The OCU is not without its share of disappointments. On Saturday, the participants were asked to share their views on how they felt before and after the clean-up. Those who spoke reflected what most in the group felt. A student of Women’s College speaking on behalf of her team said, “We come here to clean every alternate Saturday but the residents don’t even come out to participate. Do they think we are here to clean up their garbage?”
A student of Kiddies Corner when asked how he felt after seeing the same amount of garbage Saturday after Saturday said, “We have to create awareness among those people living by the riverside. They must be responsible for the River Umkaliar. And yes, Government should strictly fine the polluters and make those people residing along the river the custodians of the Umkaliar and other rivers.
On Saturday, amongst the usual attendees, thirty security guard personnel from Colonel Shisupal’s agency got to work freeing the river from the clothes, plastics, cement bags and a dead dog.
Many new stakeholders are teaming up with OCU to leave behind a better Shillong. They include the St Edmunds batch of 1979 who too were intensely involved in the Umkaliar Clean-Up and before that at Laban too. Other regular groups comprise MakeSomeoneSmile and TheGreen Signal, Bethany Society and the Unitarian Church.
Rudi Warjri former Ambassador is teaming up with students of Martin Luther Christian University (MLCU), Dept of Environment Science to create awareness vide pamphlets and door to door visits. The pamphlets will soon be distributed to households and shops in the different localities.
Meanwhile the City Hut Dhaba (CHD) and Jiva team have been cleaning up different parts of Shillong regularly even though that is not their brief. They are appalled by the garbage that is allowed to collect near the MLA hostel, at Golf Links and other public places al through the day. They feel that more mobile dustbins are needed at strategic locations but also that residents must take responsibility. CHD has acquired a mobile garbage bin of their own.
The OCU is working in tandem with the Deputy Commissioner, East Khasi Hills, whose programme, “My Shillong, My Pride also aims at a clean and green Shillong. The Shillong Municipal Board, PWD and DIPR have been rendering all assistance.
