SHILLONG, Nov 23: Village Moolamylliang maybe an unfamiliar name now, but here is a village that brings a breath of fresh air with its conscientious effort to become a model of a village that prefers the environment above pernicious coal mining.
Tucked in the distant East Jaintia Hills district about 107 kms from here, Moolamylliang is under Saipung Block, is a village which the locals say was once a desolate place but which has been regenerated since about 2014.
Since 2014 the Dorbar decided to buy trees out of the funds at their disposal and to plant them all around the village. Their idea is to reclaim all deforested spaces and grow all kinds of trees. The indigenous species is grown around the one kilometer expanse of land they have converted into a forest while within the village they have grown different types of Ficus shrubs and the colourful Sizygium with its red and green leaves which are planted on both sides of the road and lanes to give the look of a boulevard and which give the village a classy look.
The Waheh Chnong (headman) of the village, an SSA school teacher Apmon Pachiang said one unique feature of the village is that the office bearers of the Dorbar Chnong are all under 40 years of age and all graduates.
“As leaders of the Chnong we have to attend several awareness programmes held by different departments of the government. If we are not educated and don’t understand what is being disseminated by the departments how can we educate the villagers in turn?”
The place now looks picturesque and is sought to be promoted as tourist destination. One thing that strikes the visitor to Moolamylliang is its neat and spruced-up look. When asked if they are also planning to promote the village as another clean destination, Apmon Pachiang and his team comprising the Assistant Waheh Chnong Damewanhi Rymbai and Knerlang Pala said, “We want to promote this as a model village that resisted coal mining because we know how devastating it is for the environment.”
Suchiang said that the village is trying to reduce the use of plastics and to find out ways and means of managing scientific garbage disposal which he hoped the government departments would assist them with.
“Our village has received help from the Meghalaya Basin Development Authority (MBDA), under the World Bank project and recently Malthus Sangma (MCS), Additional Deputy Commissioner of the district visited us and we hope to work under his guidance,” Pachiang said.
The village is proud that it has quite a high literacy rate of nearly 80% and last year a Class XII topper from their village Kampher Pala who passed out of North Liberty School Jowai and also passed his NEET exam is now admitted for medical studies at Gauhati Medical College & Hospital.
The children of the village are being taught early that growing trees is good for the eco-system. The Dorbar spent about Rs 40,000 to buy saplings and the children have become enthusiastic volunteers to plant the saplings and look after them, Pachiang said. The village has a little nursery where jackfruit, cocoa trees and many other plants are waiting to be planted at the right season.
What is evident is a lot of bonhomie in the village, because of which there is a sense of cooperation. The village needs to come under the wings of the Tourism departments so that it is given a sense of direction. The villagers are keen to do their bit but they need to think together with private tour promoters and the government for assistance.
Moolamylliang is not just another village jumping into the Tourism bandwagon. They are doing this consciously as an alternative livelihood opportunity for the youth and also to reverse the adverse effects of coal mining which they have rejected.
“There is a lot of pressure on us to give ‘no objection certificates’ for coke industries but we know how polluting that is. At the same time we don’t want to deprive people of their livelihoods so we have told them to do their activities beyond the river which borders our village. There are about 29 coke factories in the area,” the Chnong members informed.
However, the Dorbar Chnong is not yet satisfied with what it has done. “We have completed only 30% of the work we envisage to take up. About 70% is still to be achieved.”
While walking around the village what was visible was also several construction works undertaken by the village from its funds. It is evident that the members of the Dorbar Chnong are passionate about the development of the village right from ensuring that every household should have a latrine in the village with a population of 960 people.
At the moment the Moolamylliang is busy preparing for the Christmas season which the village observes with much gaiety. The secretary of the Dorbar Chnong, P Syrti was himself seen setting up arches and working hard to make the Christmas celebration a memorable one as is done every year.