SHILLONG, Oct 18: Along the highway from Shillong to Sohra there is a signage on the left which reads Mawjrong. This left turn will take tourists to the much talked about Kongthong – the village where mothers hum a tune to name their children. But on the way are several equally picturesque villages which have not received the attention of the Tourism department.
Swer village is just a kilometer away from Mawjrong and has the most exquisite sites and viewpoints but according to the Sordar (headman) of the village, Sordron Nongrum, despite submission of a blueprint for tourism in his village to successive directors of the Tourism department, there has been no response.
Swer village has also formed the Lamlynti Tourism Co-operative Society but there is little they can do without assistance from the government. The village has several high peaks that are still green and pristine and one can look out to Bangladesh and towards Sohra. On a clear day the Himalayas are also visible. The road from Mawjrong to Swer is quite alright but beyond that and the road up to Kongthong is in a very poor state despite it being a favoured destination.
At present the only livelihood activity in Swer and adjoining villages is stone and sand quarrying which is defacing the beautiful landscape, Nongrum stated. He said that if the state is really concerned about environment conservation for which it makes pious claims then it should assist the villagers with alternatives to quarrying which will soon spread and create barren landscapes.
When this correspondent visited Swer village en-route from Kongthong on Friday last, the young people of Swer village were being primed for a one-month training they were to receive at the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), Shillong starting from October 17.
Rothell Khongsit of Kongthong who has taken the initiative to promote tourism in his village was the motivational speaker. He was assisted by Sorjon Swer, a teacher from the Dorbar Shnong run Higher Secondary School at Swer.
Rothell said IHM had been given a grant by the Union Ministry of Tourism for a one-month training programme for the youth of Kongthong on “Homestay and Multi-Skilled Caretakers,” however, since he felt that the adjoining villages too should receive the training he also included the youth of the adjoining villages – Swer, Khrang and Mawrah so that they can also start homestay facilities for tourists.
It may be mentioned that the Tourism departments of North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) and Martin Luther Christian University (MLCU) have been visiting Kongthong and adjoining villages from time to time and training the local tour guides and homestay owners.
The people of these villages rue the neglect by their MLA, Miguel Gavin Mylliem of the PDF, who hardly ever visits them. “Successive governments are to be blamed for failing to give due attention to the basic needs of the villages but primarily roads that can assist the farmers to bring their products to the markets at Sohra or Shillong,” said a farmer from Sder village who was carrying broomsticks on his back and climbing hundred of steps to reach Kongthong the nearest village with some semblance of a road. Recently, Rajya Sabha member Rakesh Sinha who had adopted Kongthong and a few adjoining villages and who trekked for almost two hours to those villages had petitioned Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to provide a road to Sder and villages beyond it. It remains to be seen if Sinha’s petition bears fruit.
The several villages in that area of Laitkroh Block feel that Sohra is too big a constituency and that while they are included in the constituency, it is Sohra proper and the villages around it that are getting all the attention while they were being neglected by all government departments.
Nongrum claims that the village has taken several steps on their own to try and promote tourism at a basic level but there is need for an initial boost to be given by the Tourism department. They are waiting for that day.
