SHILLONG, Dec 17: Peeved at acute water shortage for months, the members of the Nongrim Hills
Dorbar Shnong and UDP General Secretary, Jemino Mawthoh, have knocked on the doors of PHE
Minister, Renikton L Tongkhar, seeking recourse.
The delegation submitted a memorandum to the PHE minister highlighting the plight of the residents
and suggesting few remedial measures to bail them out of the crisis.
The delegation informed the minister that the locality has been receiving water for decades from the
NNP scheme which continues till date while a small portion comes from the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme (GSWSS).
“The supply of water, in the last six months, has dropped considerably and in the last two months, it has
almost become negligible with no supply of water for weeks during the rainy days. The decrease in water supply has put the residents of the two localities in great difficulty,” said general
secretary of the Dorbar Shnong, Sebastian War.
Stating that most of the consumers of the PHE department are regular water taxpayers and have not defaulted in paying their dues every month, he said, “It is grave injustice to the consumers who are not getting regular supply despite payment of dues since they had to shell out extra money to purchase water twice a week”.
Pointing out that there is an increase in the number of households and population in these two localities and that the additional water coming from the GSWSS in the year 2005-2006 was thought to be a great blessing for the residents, War stated that the water supply from the GSWSS has also become very irregular and insufficient to meet the growing requirements of the people.
He informed that a site inspection revealed that there is a breakdown of the water pipes coming from
Umkhen source and a dam existed at Umkhen source earlier but at present it is non-existent.
Looking for a lasting solution to their problem, he said, “The issue has become chronic and needs attention, and we hope that timely action will be taken for the renovation and upgrade of the water supply chain with construction of a proper dam at Umkhen source”.
“We also request to declare the land in and around the Umkhen source as catchment area to put a stop to the ongoing mining and quarrying which, if not checked, will have a toll on the supply of water and may lead to the collapse and abandoning of this important source,” he added.
