By HH Mohrmen
When Conrad K Sangma assumed office five years ago, he was very concerned with conserving the environment. He did show his concern about ‘green’ issues and also launched projects and programs which aimed at the protection of the environment. In fact in the five years that he has been the Chief Minister of the state, he has announced an attractive environment programs with catchy names which unfortunately are good on paper only. Many of these programs launched by the government end up as mere rhetoric by the Chief Minister.
Not walking the talk
In June 2018 Chief Minister Conrad Sangma launched a fancy program that was part of the fit India movement. After attending the Fit India Movement at Yojana Bhavan as a mark of starting the movement in the state, the CM walked from his official residence at Polo to his office in the State Secretariat. The CM said that he would undertake ‘w2w’ (walk to work) every Wednesday. Intending to achieve a ‘fit Meghalaya’ the CM even appealed to the people of the state to take the ‘healthy step’ and make it a habit to walk to work. Sangma also added that due to the growing concern about global warming, people could cut down on toxic carbon dioxide emissions by walking to work and also save money by cutting down on fuel expenditure besides reducing congestion on Shillong roads. He even suggested that people can take shortcuts to their offices or schools and made a clarion call to the people to take up the challenge of walking instead of driving to work. Sangma also said that many of the youths were physically active but the problem lay in people’s daily lives where they forget about staying healthy. That the program was destined to fail was obvious from the fact that while the CM was walking to the Secretariat from his official residence, none of his Cabinet Ministers was around to accompany him. Not surprisingly the walk to the office became a one-day affair and the CM too conveniently forgot his promise the very next week as he drove to the Secretariat.
The Failed 1 Million
Trees Campaign
Another of the government’s programs on the environment was the million trees campaign which was also part of this government’s environment day celebration. In June 2019, the MDA government launched a 1.5 million trees campaign in the entire state. During the World Environment Day celebration, the government claimed that it had planted 1,000 saplings in 460 villages across the 46 Community & Rural Development blocks. The government through this program called the ‘one citizen one tree’ campaign also claimed that a million saplings were planted in 306 spring sheds and catchment areas across the state. It was also claimed that this is a record of sorts considering that such a mass campaign has never been attempted in the past. The goal was to plant one million saplings in commemoration of World Environment Day that year.
It was reported by the press that the tree plantation was under the supervision of the state’s Soil & Water Conservation Department and was organized in collaboration with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development’s (NABARD) regional office in Shillong. It was also reported that this was part of the project on spring-shed development, funded under the National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC). The project was part of the initiative to protect vulnerable springs and rejuvenate their catchments or recharge areas, which cost the exchequer Rs 4.11 crore. The project was an afforestation measure which was in sync with the year’s World Environment Day theme on air pollution. It also envisages addressing the challenges and threats to the springs of the state which are sources of water and ensuring sustained yield and availability, especially during the lean dry months. The Department’s statement says that the initiative of planting a million trees will help in rejuvenating the catchments of these springs and in improving water discharge from such springs. The Chief Minister then also proudly tweeted about the state’s achievement, which he claimed was a record of sorts. But the million dollar question is – How many of these saplings have survived? Also if the Department has committed the grave error of planting tree species that are not endemic to the area the whole process would do more harm than good to the environment.
The Chief Minister and his journey on an EV
To the delight of the people of the State, in August 2019, CM Conrad Sangma announced that his office has bought an Electric Vehicle, and on the same day, he also said he will be using an electric vehicle (EV) to commute to his office in order to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and to ensure the low carbon emission from his vehicle. The CM asked other departments and citizens to start using EVs because he believes that it is one step towards going green and to ensure that the citizens of the state do their part to protect the environment and reduce the impact of fossil fuels in global warming and climate change.
The question we need to ask today is whether the CM has lived up to his promise. Unfortunately, all of Conrad Sangma’s promises are empty rhetoric as he has not followed them up with action. He is rarely seen riding in his electric car.
Illegal mining of coal continues as I write this column. It casts a dark shadow on the CM’s ‘Green image’ proclamation. Despite the court’s intervention, illegal mining and transportation of coal continues unabated. If one visits the coal mining areas, one would see fresh coal collected at different locations which only testifies to the fact that the MDA Government under Conrad Sangma is not serious in stopping illegal mining and transportation of coal from the state.
The other question that people raise is, how can the CM talk about reducing carbon emissions when he is still followed by a large cavalcade of cars? And why buy an electric vehicle that’s lying idle? But even if he uses the EV, how can the CM reduce carbon emissions when he is still using a convoy of cars to follow him?
Hence the carefully cultivated ‘green image’ proposed by some consultants perhaps has burst like a bubble. That green image came crashing like an avalanche when in the few months before the elections the CM was seen using a chopper to fly across the state to inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of different projects. One wonders how much carbon footprints the CM has let off into the atmosphere, apart from the dust that still coats trees and other objects. Is the Department of Environment and Forests measuring the carbon footprints these last few months that he was busy inaugurating and launching projects?
Conrad Sangma is also the star campaigner for his party hence the carbon footprints would also increase by leaps and bounds because he also has to use the chopper to campaign for his party.
In the last five years, the CM had made many promises to protect the environment and help in trying to control climate change, but it is for the wise people of the State to say if their Chief Minister has lived up to his promises.