NONGPOH: Along the interstate border with Assam in Ri Bhoi, a village called Umru awaits the much-needed thrust from the Meghalaya Government to turn it into a popular tourist destination.
The Umru village is famous for the migrating birds, ‘Amur Falcon’, which journey from Siberia in Russia to the village during this time (November) of the year.
The Ri Bhoi Tourism and Environmental Development Forum (RBTEDF), after a visit to the village, has urged the state government to take serious initiative in developing the village as a tourist destination.
Plielad Tiewsoh, president of the organisation, said that Umru is fortunate to have these birds visiting the village once a year, while also informing that they fly above the skies during day hours but during the night, they rest upon bamboo branches.
“The Amur Falcons usually visit Umru village during the month of November and stays till mid-December before migrating to other countries,” he informed, adding that government needs to usher in serious initiatives to ensure that Umru becomes an attractive location for tourists.
The organisation also visited Iamkhon, one of the cleanest villages in Ri Bhoi, with the intention of motivating and encouraging the villagers.
It has suggested the district administration and the state government to declare the village as the cleanest village of Ri Bhoi, while at the same time maintaining that an honest and collective approach on the end of the people in Iamkhon is a must to be worthy of such a declaration.
Meanwhile, the forum, in view of the residents of these border villages being subjected to frequent harassment by the Assam Police, has demanded of the Meghalaya Government to sort out the boundary issue at the earliest.