By H H Mohrmen
As a citizen of Jowai town, I was very much ashamed that the issue of waste in my town had to be discussed in the Assembly. One hopes that this will be the last time that the legislators will have to discuss garbage in the august House. The problem which has unnecessarily been protracted for more than a year now has reached a situation where one can see no solution in the very near future. Till date the people of this town are in a dilemma because despite the debate in the House, neither the Jowai Municipal Board nor the Department of Urban Affairs is able to come up with a permanent solution to this problem.
The JMB and Department of Urban affairs seem clueless
As I write this piece for TST, garbage in Jowai piled up particularly at the three locations, one in front of the DC’s office, the other in front of Thomas Jones college and the third at Ϊawthymme, near the Kiang Nangbah stadium. As summer approaches the waste accumulated has generated a foul smell and house flies have started to swarm the area which will in turn be a health hazard for the people nearby.
The sad part is that none of the concern departments; neither the Jowai Municipal Board nor the Department of Urban Affairs is able to provide a long- lasting solution to the problem. Even the MLA and the MDCs who represents the different constituencies in the town have not come up with a possible solution to the problem. In fact, from the answer of the Minister in Charge of Urban Affairs in the House, it is obvious that even the Department is not even clear if they want a landfill or are planning to systematically manage the waste generated by the town folks.
Location of the
waste heaps
All the waste mounds which have come up in the town are located in the place which is either near the market or a busy thoroughfare which is also a threat to the well-being of the people in the area. Few days ago there was report that the garbage heap which is located near Thomas Jones College caught fire and had it not been for the prompt arrival of the fire service, the shops near the area would have been gutted.
The waste collected is also a health hazard to the people who are selling their wares in the shops in the markets nearby. The poor hawkers and small shops owners have no other option but to bear the stench and the unhealthy situation of their work place.
At the household level people in the town have no other option but to resort to open-air burning of their waste in spite of it being illegal. In the absence of a proper waste disposal system, waste will naturally end up in the water bodies. Traditionally Myntdu is known as ‘ka tawiar ka takan’ but now it also has to carry human filth.
River Myntdu at
the receiving end
Once the rainy season starts the waste dumped by the locals will ultimately make its way to the river through the different drains in the town. Myntdu which flows around Jowai and is still being worshipped as a divine guardian angel will suffer the first onslaught once the monsoon starts. Myntdu River will have to bear the brunt of the waste problem that the town is encountering. The river will have to suffer for the failure of the Government and in the process it will also affect the water supply of the town which is being pumped from the same river downstream of the market area.
Khuid Yaka Wah Myntdu Organisation’s Initiative
In Jowai, the town is fortunate to have two organizations which have tirelessly worked for the protection of this important river. The Jañtia Fishing and Environment Protection Association and the newly formed Khuid Yaka Wah Myntdu Organisation are playing their part in protecting the river Myntdu. In the recent meeting with the Señ Kynthai of the Dorbar Chnong Dulong, Jowai, K.L. Pariat president of the KYWM organization lamented about the way waste is being haphazardly dumped which indicates that the spiritual bond that people have with the river is broken now.
The first initiative taken by the organization to help mitigate the waste problem in Jowai was by organizing the meeting of the women groups of Jowai on March 18 at Lion Mission Compound community hall. In the meeting this writer shared ideas on how to turn the adversity into an opportunity and turn waste to wealth.
Waste to Wealth
Along with the support of the Society for Urban and Rural Empowerment, we have been able to turn kitchen waste to pig feed using Bokashi method. And on an average each household could produce approximately 10 kg of pig feed per week which is being sold at Rs. 7 per kg. Other biodegradables are also converted to compost using Vermi, Berkley or even natural composting processes while plastic bottles and containers, papers and cardboard are being sold to the waste collectors.
SURE has reached out to the different communities to create awareness about the possibility of starting waste economy in the town. The possibility of converting kitchen waste to pig feed was successfully pilot tested and it has benefitted both the generator of waste and the end users who are the pig farm owners. In the meeting with the Women’s league of the Dorbar Chnong Dulong it was found that some members of the community have already started making compost from kitchen waste using vermi-composting method. But in all this effort disposing plastics and snacks wrapper remains the most challenging task.
Lesson for all from
Lumputhoi
Lumputhoi is a small hamlet under eleka Rymbai of East Jañtia hills district with a population of about 1200. A Facebook post on March 23 by S. Lyngdoh General Secretary Dorbar Chnong demonstrated how the village disposed its plastics. They were able to do away with the plastic menace which has played havoc everywhere by disposing it in an eco-friendly manner. First of all awareness was conducted by Village Water and Sanitation Committee on October 3, 2021. On the same day prizes were distributed to winners who can collect the largest amount of plastic waste. Prizes to the winners of the one year plastic collection competition which was started in 2020 was distributed on October 3. In fact, the District Administration informed that the collection was part of the plastic festival and Swachha Hi Seva program organized by the DC’s office East Jañtia Hills. 3061 kg of plastics was collected from the 21 villages from both Khliehriat and Saipung blocks and the same was handed over to Bharat Dalmia Cement plant at Thangskai village.
The lesson for the JMB and the Urban Department of Meghalaya is that single use plastics and snack wrappers which are urban nuisances can be sent to the cement plants to be disposed off in its boilers unit. Facebook friend H. Nonglang posted that as per NGT orders Government and local authorities should insist that cement plants buy and use RDF (refuse derived fuel) as fuel in their respective plants. The lesson for those at the helm of power is, if waste is segregated biodegradable waste can be converted to animal feed or compost and single use plastic and snack wrappers can be sent for use by cement plants.
Waste management
rather than landfill
It is obvious that getting landfills for both Jowai and Shillong is a herculean task for the government, because there is so much protest from the local people in the area. One can sympathise with the protestors for the simple fact that landfills affect water bodies and it is almost impossible to stop open-air burning. Therefore segregation of waste generated from the town is the only option to solve this long pending problem. The problem that Jowai town is experiencing now is only a precursor to what is going to happen in the other urban areas in the state. The approach therefore is how to manage waste rather than just trying to arrange landfills. The goal is to achieve zero waste but the next best thing is to minimize the amount of waste that has to go to the landfill.
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