Govt asked to stop waste from flowing into Umshing

SHILLONG, Sep 19: The Dorbar Shnong of Mawiong Rim and Mawiong Umjapung have threatened that they will move the National Green Tribunal (NGT) if the state government fails to prevent the waste of the Shillong abattoir and the Meghalaya Dairy Processing Unit from flowing down into the Umshing river.
The Rangbah Shnong of Mawiong Rim S Lyngdoh Nongpyiur said they are concerned over the pollution of the river which is the source of the Greater Mawiong Water Supply Scheme.
Under the scheme, potable water is supplied to over 7,000 residents of the two localities.
Nongpyiur said during a joint inspection on August 10, it was found that the pollution was caused by the waste flowing into the Umshing river from the abattoir and the milk processing unit.
“We no longer feel safe to use the water we get under the scheme,” the Rangbah Shnong said.
He also said the locality will decide at a meeting of the Dorbar Shnong, to be held soon, whether to move the NGT.
Nongpyiur said the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) has no respect for the two localities which are dependent on the Umshing river water.
“I would urge the department to make a new arrangement for providing potable water to the residents of the two localities. We also need uninterrupted supply of drinking water like other localities and villages,” he said.
He said the two localities have been facing an acute shortage of water for the past few months as the water pumps, installed in the 1990s, need to be repaired every now and then and for which, the technician has to be called from Assam.
The PHED should have replaced the ageing pumps with new ones. People have been forced to buy water but families, which belong to low income group and cannot afford to buy water, are facing hardships, Nongpyiur added.
Meanwhile, activist Disparsing Rani, who filed an RTI over the pollution of the Umshing river, said the PHE department claimed the pollution was due to chemicals which flow into the river from automobile workshops and other factories localited in the area.
He asked as to why the department did not initiate action against the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary department as both the abattoir and the milk processing unit fall under its jurisdiction.
“I would like to ask if there was a DPR when the Shillong abattoir project was being implemented for proper sewerage and treatment plant to ensure that the waste is not released to the Umshing river,” the activist said.
Rani said it is the duty of the PHE department to protect water bodies and catchment areas.