Need more waste evangelists to clean up Umkhrah & Umshyrpi: Chief Secretary

SHILLONG, June 14: In what is a demonstrable intent to follow up on Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma’s commitment to rejuvenate and restore the rivers Wah Umkhrah, Wah Umshyrpi and Wah Umkhen at the meeting held on April 14 last, an apex committee and sub-committees have since been formed to address the issue in a more focussed manner.
Accordingly, the apex committee chaired by Chief Secretary DP Wahlang held its first meeting on Wednesday where concerned departments namely the Environment and Forest Department, the Urban Affairs Department, PHED, Water Resources Department, Shillong Municipal Board, Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board, members of Synjuk Ki Nongsynshar Shnong, Rangbah Shnongs of Nongrim Hills and Wahingdoh, and members of civil society attended.
Addressing the meeting, Wahlang said, “We are serious about pursuing all violations against environmental norms by house owners that dump sewage directly into the rivers and that would include sealing the houses that have no provision for septic tanks.”
Expressing deep concern about reports from the Rangbah Shnong of Wahingdoh, RS Marbaniang that the river (now turned drain) flowing from Butcher Road, Umsohsun, Wahingdoh and on to Mawlai and Umiam carries loads and loads of clothes dumped by people on that river, the chief secretary said some interns would be employed to check the pain points along these rivers and address those with immediate effect.
Stating that the State Pollution Control Board has now mapped the tributaries of Wah Umkhrah and Umshyrpi and divided the stretches into 6-7 parts, the chief secretary said each stretch would be headed by a magistrate who will work in close coordination with the Dorbar Shnongs along which the rivers flow.
In their presentation, the Shillong Municipal Board listed the awareness programmes with the Dorbar Shnong and residents of the areas along which the above two rivers flow. Findings during the survey were that out of 953 households, 63 have been served notices of which 42 households were for minor damage of the septic tanks while 13 households had major damage. Penalties imposed till date amounted to Rs 2.6 lakh.
Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) have been installed at four strategic locations and those are expected to start working from December this year while 4 Nallah in-situ treatment plants also installed at various locations along the rivers are expected to start working from November this year.
Two faecal sludge treatment plants have been installed at Marten and behind the SMB quarters.
Chairman of MSPCB, Dr C Manjunatha presented the roadmap on how to prevent dumping of garbage into rivers through a series of action plans including installing wire mesh across the rivers at boundary points between Dorbar Shnongs so that there is a system of accountability in place.
The MSPCB will also be conducting regular meetings with the Dorbar Shnong for community participation in cleaning drives and in identifying violators who would be fined for polluting rivers, he said.
CEO of the Shillong Smart City Project, Dr TV Krishna Murthy informed that two Dorbar Shnongs have approached him for installing CCTV cameras to detect polluters. These are Lumdiengjri and Lummawbah. He said that other Dorbar Shnong too can approach the office of the Project should they require CCTV cameras.
The chief secretary called upon all residents to work in tandem with the different departments and to become stakeholders in reclaiming the rivers of Shillong.
“We need more waste evangelists to do the good work of not throwing garbage anywhere but to also check that others don’t do so. Schools outreach programmes are important and students should now become our active volunteers,” Wahlang added.
Additional Chief Secretary Shakil P. Ahammed, who will be chairing the sub committees, was also present at the meeting.