Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma had tweeted on Friday that the State Government had discussions with a private company – AG Group to rejuvenate and enhance the water quality of Wah Umkhrah on accelerated phycoremediation using nano nutrient technology. Phycoremediation in simple language means using microalgae or macroalgae for removal or bio-transformation of pollutants, including nutrients, xenobiotics and carbon monoxide from wastewater. The Water Resources Department will in all probability be the lead department to take forward this project.
Shillong’s two major rivers the Wah Umkhrah and Umshyrpi have borne the brunt of anthropogenic activities. Attempts to clean these two rivers including by different groups and by the Government and the Khasi Hills District Council have not resulted in any tangible results because people residing along the banks of the two rivers use them to dump garbage and empty their sewers. It’s not as if people are not aware of the environmental consequences of polluting the two rivers both of which flow into the Umiam Lake and cause major silting, thereby reducing the life-span of the lake. In 2019 a Committee of the Meghalaya Assembly on Environment found that the life of the polluted Umiam Lake has been reduced by 41 years from 100 years. Umiam Lake is now able to generate power only up to 2024. The Committee after inspecting the Umïam Lake found that the adverse impact on the life of the lake was because of huge deposit of garbage and silt.
In 2019, the Umiam Lake saw a barrage of plastics landing on it because the wall at Marten dumping ground had collapsed. At that time the High Court had intervened in the matter and the MeECL and State Pollution Control Board reported that things have been sorted out. But most of the garbage has settled at the bottom of the lake. The State Pollution Board had given its opinion that the Umkhrah and Umshyrpi rivers have become open sewers. The two rivers are over-burdened not only with liquid waste but with tons of solid waste which include plastic that drain into the Lake. According to MeECL officials the quantity of silt deposited is about 0.5 Million Cubic Meter every year.
In this situation unless the matter is taken seriously, Meghalaya will not only lose an important power generation facility but will also find that the toxicity of the water in the two rivers becoming a hazard to the overall health of the environment. What also needs urgent attention are the other rivers in the length and breadth of Meghalaya. The Umiew River in Smit which flows to the Mawphlang dam and ultimately reaches the Greater Shillong Water Supply System is now being used for washing vehicles day in and day out. The toxicity of the Umiew River can well be imagined. It is imperative therefore that the Government of Meghalaya pays attention to its rivers. It’s now or never!