SHILLONG/JOWAI, April 26: Home Minister and senior leader from Jaintia Hills region, Lahkmen Rymbui, has stressed on the need to resolve the beleaguering subject of garbage management in Jowai not in a stop-gap arrangement but to address the core of the problem.
The Home Minister’s remark came as normal life in Jowai took a hit on Tuesday during the 36-hour-long lockdown called by Tympang and Ladthadlaboh Dorbar Shnnong to prevent residents from dumping garbage in the town. It may be mentioned that no untoward incident was reported on the day.
Speaking to media persons here on the issue, Lahkmen Rymbui said that it is no time to blame each other but to introspect.
“This is a real issue which should not be addressed as a stop-gap arrangement but we have to address the core of the issue,” he said while recalling that in 2019, he had warned that the urban areas of the state will face the problem of water and waste management.
Stating that the problem should have been resolved earlier, he said the municipal body as well as the state government has been scouting for land to construct landfill for a long time but people have been protesting due to health-related apprehensions.
Citing fears about the waste-related issue likely to affect other parts of the state in the future, the Home Minister said that the problem has to be addressed jointly by all.
Reminding the people that the practice of keeping the city clean starts from home, Rymbui lamented that people who were provided blue and green buckets to segregate the garbage are now using those buckets to store clothes and rice while they continue to throw garbage in plastic bags.
In Jowai, all shops and some educational institutes were closed during the lockdown, which will continue till 6 pm on Wednesday.
Earlier, the Rangbah Shnong of Iawmusiang (also Tympang), Ajoy Lywait, had told The Shillong Times that the decision to impose the lockdown was taken in view of an outbreak of diarrhoea and emesis (vomiting) among residents of the town due to the foul smell emanating from the piles of garbage dumped at Iawmusiang.
The Jowai Municipal Board has failed to dispose the garbage collected from various localities of Jowai, while on the other hand, with no clarity on the new landfill site, dissent seems to be growing among the stakeholders.