By Larilin Kharpuri
For people in Meghalaya or those in the worldwide diaspora from Meghalaya, a normal day would start with reading the Shillong Times. Many of us do keep abreast of the happenings in the country and around the world by reading other newspapers. But in a small community like ours, a local newspaper has its own charm and place in our lives. It’s more than just a paper that reports the happenings in the state. It gives us our own space and a sense of community. The Letters to The Editor and opinion pieces on local matters provide a forum for our thought leaders and activists, and even though many issues are fiercely debated, in the end these forge our collective identity and well-being.
Hence all readers, from across a wide spectrum, will happily celebrate this well-deserved anniversary of a special newspaper. The Shillong Times has completed 75 years of existence, which means 75 years of serving the people, 75 years of non-stop journalism and 75 years of reporting the good, the bad the ugly.
A platinum jubilee is a big deal. What comes to our mind when we hear the word celebration? A grand function, dinner party or both, well dressed people, announcement of competitions, and maybe fireworks. Well, all this didn’t happen for ST. Instead ST took the road less travelled. They did have a half-day function for the launch of the 75th Anniversary year on August 9, 2019. But that was the only formal event.
True to its commitment to social betterment, The Shillong Times decided to take up a unique anniversary celebration project, which came to be known as Operation Clean- Up (OCU). A detailed plan was set in place for the cleaning of the two rivers: Umkhrah and Umshyrpi. The project was to be executed in collaboration with schools, colleges and universities that are willing partners, and to work hand in hand with the district administration and Shillong Municipal Board (SMB).
The project was inaugurated on August 8, 2019 with cleaning the Umkaliar riverbed and banks at Nongmynsong. Afroz Shah, the well-known Mumbai-based environmentalist and United Nations Champion of the Earth awardee was present for the launch. So no fancy clothes, no decorations, definitely no fireworks. Present were dedicated individuals, helping hands, and concerned citizens.
The Umshyrpi and Umkhrah rivers, which flow through the city of Shillong, originate from the foothills of Shillong Peak. The Umshyrpi river flows in a south-north direction. The Umkhrah river runs in an east-west direction, and flows through a relatively flat bed in the Umkaliar area and this is where the early efforts were focused as a pilot project.
The Umkaliar riverbed is clogged with all sorts of garbage: kitchen waste, clumps of old clothes, bottles and cans, used toiletries and diapers, you name it and you will find it here. A team of people with genuine concern for the environment and its resources was formed. With time more people joined in and we christened the effort as Operation Clean Up (OCU). This team comprised of individuals like Rudi Warjri, Aiban Swer of MBDA, Avner Pariat, Derick Pariat, Larsing Ming Sawyan of Centre Point, Jiwat Vasvani and the Jiva team, Christine Beale, Jasbir Singh, Toki Blah, Adeetya Tiwari and his team, Nicholas of Radio Mirchi, St Edmund’s 1979 Batch, institutions such as Jyoti Sroat School, Kiddies Corner Secondary School, Women’s College, Martin Luther Christian University, St Anthony’s HS School, St Anthony’s College, KL Bajoria College, St Mary’s College, Seven Set HS School, NGOs such as Bethany Society Make Someone Smile, The Green Signal and others. The OCU army was led by Kong Patricia Mukhim, along with Bah Manas Chaudhuri of The Shillong Times, editor and managing director of the newspaper respectively.
The team met almost every Saturday starting with the first clean up on August 8, 2019 and continuing till the lockdown in March 2020. In total 17 clean up sessions were carried out. This included seven at the Umkaliar river, and also cleaning drives in Laban, Police Bazaar, Golf Links, Malki forest, Umiew River at Umphrup village, Ward’s Lake and Botanical Garden. Some of the clean ups were initiated by Make Someone Smile and The Green Signal. Jiva and other sponsors provided, boots, cleaning tools, and snacks for the volunteers.
Now, why would we clean the same area several times? Because it gets filled with garbage again almost immediately. Every time we visited Umkaliar, it was like starting from scratch. So during a couple of the clean ups, some of the team members visited the houses and premises along the stretch of the river to generate awareness. On one such occasion, visually challenged students from Bethany Society joined the team not just to clean up but to talk to residents.
It was encouraging to see enthusiastic participation by youth, and especially young school students in these clean ups. It surely makes one optimistic about the future and that the world will be in safe hands; hands that would care for and clean the environment around them. Young voices from all over the world are leading the way. In October 2019, Suhani Ravi Tiwari joined OCU to visit few schools and colleges in Shillong advocating against the use of plastics. Suhani is a 12 year-old girl from Gurgaon who has taken an innovative approach to spread awareness on the menace of plastics, through poetry and Twitter.
So what did we learn? The first lesson was that it was not easy. It requires dedication, patience, courage and sacrifice of one’s personal time. Secondly, it is not easy to change the mindset and habits of people, even those who are living in the midst of garbage. The “who cares” and “chalta hain” attitude prevails, and attitudinal and behavioral change is needed. That particular scene from the 2006 film Lage Raho Munna Bhai made more sense now…you clean and someone else pollutes it again, and then you keep on cleaning till that someone stops doing so.
Thirdly, team spirit makes a difference. During some of the clean ups, there was heavy rain and stormy weather, but nothing could deter our commitment as a team. The sheer grit of the leaders and the willingness of the team members enabled the project to carry on. Another positive outcome is that individuals and groups in other parts of the state are initiating clean ups of public places and water bodies, with people taking ownership of local issues, and trying to find solutions collectively.
A collective approach will be a game changer, with people becoming more responsible in waste management and in caring for the environment. But what if, just like ST, other institutions, organizations or even individuals celebrate their anniversaries, commemorations and birthdays by taking such initiatives? Do we dare to ask ourselves this question? Kudos to The Shillong Times and thank you for making a difference!
Dr Larilin Kharpuri is Head, Department of Environment and Traditional Ecosystems, MLCU. Her email is [email protected]