By Ibankyntiew Mawrie
SHILLONG, March 17: Lukha, one of the major rivers in Meghalaya, has made headlines regularly since 2007 for sporting a blue hue during the dry seasons. Rampant mining activities and effluents discharged from cement plants had rendered the river dead. The slow death was a result of acid mine drainage into the river.
However, the river has now got a new lease of life, thanks to a minute organism – the algae.
The pilot project for treatment, cleaning and rejuvenation of Lukha river by using algae, called Phycoremediation, at Sonapyrdi has been declared as “successful”. Phycoremediation is defined as the “use of algae to treat wastes or wastewaters”.
This project was set in motion by the Forest department last year and under this project, algae are being cultivated in 14 different ponds at Sonapyrdi village.
The latest report has pegged the pH level of the river at 6.5. The neutral pH of water is 7.0.
Speaking with The Shillong Times, Daiapherbha Lamare, a resident of Sonapyrdi, hopes that with the success of the pilot project, the once toxic river will be revived.
“The condition of the river has improved and everyone can see that it has been purified now,” he said.
Lamare urged the state government to allot more funds through the District Mineral Fund Trust or from the Meghalaya Environment Restoration and Protection Fund for long-term solutions to revive (Contd on P-4)
Lukha alive and kicking…
(Contd from P-1) and maintain the water quality of the river.
Lamare is also a member of the Hynriew Shnong Wah Lukha Association (HSWLA), a community-led body that has been working tirelessly for the past two years to revive the river.
Elated with the success of the pilot project, Forest Minister James PK Sangma said the government will roll out a wide-scale project through bio remedial measures in the Lukha and other toxic and acidic rivers of the state.
“We feel that this being a bio remedy, must be scaled up not just in Lukha, but other acidic and toxic rivers,” he said, adding that Phycoremediation only helps in reducing the high-acidity level of a river but other pollutants and chemicals have to be treated through other methods.
“There is an action plan in place. We hope that we can address the problems through bio-remedies. We are keen on taking up rejuvenation of rivers through bio remedial measures,” he added.
Sangma emphasised the need for all allied departments like Water Resources, Water Conservation and the Autonomous District Councils to come on board to sensitise the stakeholders, essentially the people who use these rivers for drinking or irrigation purposes, on the need to revive the rivers and other waterbodies.