New landfill site in JH soon

SHILLONG, Sep 27: Following uproar in Jaintia Hills recently over lack of a landfill site in Jowai, the authorities are now all set to buy land for a new dumping ground.
Local MLA from Jowai, Wailadmiki Shylla, on Monday informed that the Municipal Department had called for an Expression of Interest (EOI) after protests erupted last month, and many parties have come forward to sell their land. “Right now, the scrutiny of papers is going on and once it is final, we will send the task force team to check the land and we will buy it,” Shylla said.
Asked how long the project will take to materialise, he said that once the land is acquired, there will be no delay and the landfill site will come up at the earliest.
Moreover, on the present situation in Jowai, the MLA said that a settlement has been reached with the owner of the existing landfill site as per which the site can be used for three months.
Earlier, the Jowai Municipal Board had stopped collection of garbage after the Behdeinkhlam festival due to protests over dumping of garbage at Mynkjai landfill site, which is about 11 kilometres away from Jowai.
The crisis snowballed to an extent where residents of Jowai dumped their garbage in front of the district administration’s office, leaving them to act swiftly.