By H.H.Mohrmen
Moolamylliang is a village located about 100 kilometers from Shillong the capital of Meghalaya. It is located near Sutnga and is perhaps, one of the oldest villages in the region. It is very close to Latyrke the temporary headquarter of Saipung block and about 20 kilometers from Khliehriat, the District headquarters of the East Jañtia hills district. I was also lucky to have the confidence of the leaders of the church to edit the history of the Presbyterian Church from which I learned about human-tiger conflict in the area. The incidents of tigers attack were because the village is not far from the Saipung Reserve Forest and royal Bengal tigers were roaming free in the region in the past.
Moolamylliang is now famous for the Christmas decoration that the village installed during the season from before Christmas till the beginning of the New Year. Recently, the village under the leadership of the Waheh Chnong Apmon Pachiang has been in the news for the many bold innovative ideas that the village has undertaken. The village with about 170 households was part of the Saipung block in the East Jañtia hills district. But what is not known about this village is the u-turn that the community has taken concerning coal mining.
The u-turn
Not surprisingly like any village in the area, the residents of the village were and some stillare engaged in the coal mining business. In the past coal mining is being operated even in the village, but things took a change for the better when the community decided to discourage coal mining in the village. This change of heart amongst the villagers happened even before the NGT banned coal mining in the state. Since the beginning of the year 2000 Moolamylliang had gradually done away with coal mining. The village has taken the bold decision even though it is located right in the heart of East Jañtia hills which is the major coal mining area in the state of Meghalaya.
The leaders of the community along with the villagers have been able to protect their village from the drastic effects of coal mining by doing three things. The village did not allow coal mining within the boundaries of the village and also prohibited dumping or stockpiling of coal in the vicinity of the village. The leaders of the community also encouraged tree plantation in the village and its vicinity by collaborating with the District Forest Officer, West Jañtia hills district. It was in one of the three plantations programs that were organized by the village in collaboration with the Forest Department in the early part of 2000 that I first came into contact with leaders of the community that included Ma Dame Rymbai and others.
By doing so, the village was able to keep its surroundings free of pollution and more importantly, the water around the village remains clean and fit for human use. The trees people planted makes the village look green and the ability of the community to keep the village clean makes it unique in its way. The villagers are also trying to reclaim Wah Kwai which was once polluted by coal mining activities.
Clean and Green
This makes Moolamyliang like an oasis in the middle of the coal mining desert in the East Jañtia hills district. Now if one visits the village one would not only see how clean the village is but the village is also made beautiful by the trees that have been planted all around the village. The village with well-trimmed trees is a feast for the eyes. The village is kept clean all year round and the magnificent church in the middle of the village also adds to the beauty of the village. It is perhaps the cleanest village in the East Jañtia hills district. C. Syrti also said that to make the village beautiful, the trees were trimmed by the community twice a year.
Closing the mines
The people in the village not only stopped mining and also disallowed dumping and stockpiling of coal in the village, but they went a step ahead and looked for ways to close the exhausted mines. Dame Rymbai one of the leaders of the village last year during the Jowai town waste imbroglio had offered to the government to dump the waste in his abandoned mine. When even the government has not contemplated closing all exhausted coal mines in the state, leaders of the village are forward-looking and planned to close the abandoned mines in the village. This is progressive thinking and forward-looking attitude by the leader of the village because not even the government has come up with a policy to close the exhausted coal mine in the coal mining areas in the state.
The Christmas decoration
The uniqueness of this village is also because once a year on the arrival of Christmas, the village is decorated with colorful lights which attract visitors from far and wide. The light decoration is kept till the beginning of the New Year for people to come and enjoy the sight. C. Syrti one of the leaders of the village said that it was not in their mind to attract people to the village when they started the Christmas decoration. Since they started installing the decoration in 2019, the community and particularly the leaders of the village spent lakhs of rupees every year to beautify the village during the festive season. This year they spent not less than fifteen lakhs rupees on decoration.
To make the celebration more attractive the organizing committee of the dorbar chnong also organized a Christmas concert on Christmas eve and a New Year concert on New Year’s eve. This year on average about 2000 visitors visited the village daily to see and enjoy the striking Christmas decoration. On Christmas eve the village was packed with visitors and about 5000 tourists visited the village.
Plans for the Future
The villagers were not disheartened by the fact that till today the government has not provided them with any kind of support. Despite the challenges next year they plan to extend the decoration much further to cover not only the facade of the village but the entire village. This also means that the community will have to increase its budget next year.
The leaders of the village wish to make their village a tourist spot that can attract tourists all year round. They wish that the village could attract tourists to the village not only during the Christmas and New Year seasons, and for that they need to have activities that can attract tourists to the village. One of the potential tourist attractions in the village that is yet to be exploited is the river Kwai. River Kwai which is part of the village can help enhance the potential of the village to attract more tourists, but the river has to be reclaimed first. The people of the village have already started the process of reclaiming the river which was affected by acid mine drainage from coal mines upstream of the river.
The village is also close to Nongkhlieh which I call the cave capital of Meghalaya, hence it can also be a base camp for people who wish to undertake cave tourism in the region.
The beginning and the basis of the story
The conservation efforts in the village started with the community and by the community and it was carried by the people of the village without any external support. Molamylliang is a classic case of community-led environment conservation at it is best, which is also the reason why the conservation effort is successful. Moolamylliang conservation could also be a model for the other mining villages in the state. Next time when we visit Moolamylliang to witness the Christmas decorations please also remember the conservation story in the village which was the starting point of the change that is happening in the village. It is the story that proves that Molamylliang has indeed become an oasis in the middle of the mining desert of the region.