Umiam Lake has become city’s septic tank: Panel

SHILLONG, Oct 13: The Umiam Lake has turned into the septic tank of Shillong and unless rivers Umkhrah and Umshyrpi rivers are treated, nothing much can be done, the expert committee for the protection and restoration of water bodies said on Thursday.
Naba Bhattacharjee, spokesperson of the committee, said Umkhrah and Umshyrpi are the culprits. He said the two rivers join the Wahroro and empty the rubbish into the Umiam Lake, thereby turning it into the septic tank of entire Shillong.
“Unless these two rivers are treated, we cannot do anything about the Umiam Lake,” Bhattacharjee said.
He also said that a 10 sq km lake is catering to 2,020 sq km of area, which cannot be seen anywhere in the country.
“We are tackling these aspects. First, the roads need to be taken care of. The Urban Affairs department is coming up with some infrastructure,” Bhattacharjee said.
He disclosed that during a recent inspection of the neck of the lake, the committee noticed the formation of algae which is not good for a river or a lake system.
Meanwhile, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests BK Lyngwa said as regards Umkhrah and Umshyrpi, an action plan is currently under operation and being seen by the River Rejuvenation Committee.
He said this committee, which is an umbrella body, will take into account the activities of all the committees and come up with a state-level action plan. The committee is also set to tackle the issue of illegal coal mining from beneath Simsang river water, he said.
“That (coal mining) is a very dangerous thing as the pollutant will directly go into the river and the water cannot be used for drinking. It will definitely be tackled on priority,” Lyngwa said.
According to reports, hundreds of poor people mine coal illegally from beneath the water of Simsang river, mainly during summer.
“We have just got the list of these rivers from various districts. Since Simsang is one river brought to our attention for treatment, we will address it if we find any issue,” Lyngwa said.
Stating that this is their second meeting and they are collecting data from the deputy commissioners, he said, (Contd on P-4)“We want the data in a detailed manner but there is lack of clarity in the data received from some districts. We have given time to them to submit the same”.
Simsang flows through the heart of Garo Hills, dividing the area in two parts, and changes its name to Someshwari as it transcends the border and flows into Bangladesh.
Every year, the heavy monsoon and flash flood carries a huge amount of silica and silt mixed with coal, washed down from the Meghalaya coal fields, and deposits it in the riverbed of Someshwari. The coal is left buried in layers of silts.
During the dry season when the water level recedes, the workers collectively extract more than 100 tonnes of coal each day.