By Reeta Ghosh
Today, the whole world is facing global warming and unexpected weather changes. Shillong, once known for its natural beauty and cool weather is no exception to these changes. As Shillongites suffer from the scorching heat, one recalls Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s famous poem, Shillonger Chithi (letter from Shillong). He composed this poem while staying at Jitbhumi Bungalow at Rilbong, Shillong in 1923. This poem has been translated by Uma Purkayastha as follows;
When the burning heat of scorching summer/ Couldn’t be ebbed by cold-drinks and fan-air.
Exhausted, I rushed to the Shillong hills,/ To be soothed with pleasant chill!/ The hillocks, covered with cluster of clouds/ Green dense forests and shadowy mounds/Warmly calls the weary passers-by/ ‘Come to my lap, and be relaxed’
Now we are experiencing the opposite scenario here at Shilllong. Patricia Mukhim’s article, ‘Environment: No one’s baby-Meghalaya stares at a bleak future’ (ST April 26, 2024) has focused on reasons behind the deterioration of the environment not only in Shillong but in Meghalaya as a whole with the rampant cutting of trees, cleansing of forest cover, quarrying, pollution of rivers, streams and air etc. The trend of rise in weather temperature continues till date. The average temperature trend showed an increase of 0.031 °C/year in the period from 1981-2012, indicating the warming of the region as reported by the Meghalaya Climate Change Centre, 2017. In fact, many research papers have shown the trend of rise in temperatures in many cooler high altitude northeastern states of India. Based on the Composite Forest Vulnerability Index (CFVI), it was found that the forests of the following districts of Meghalaya namely, West Garo Hills, Ribhoi, Jaintia Hills, East Garo Hills and East Khasi Hills had high vulnerability and would be highly impacted by climate change.
Shillong in the East Khasi Hills District was a gift of nature with the grandeur of its beautiful green hills, forests, meadows, trees, water falls, streams, rivers, orchids, pitcher plants and pines etc. This beauty accompanied with the cool atmosphere was the real wealth of its inhabitants. Tourism industry flourishes in the district because of these natural resources and also provides the means to curb the burning issue of youth unemployment.
Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, in one of his letters to Hitendranath Nandi wrote on October 18, 1919 about his first stay in Shillong at Brookside Bungalow of Rilbong. He wrote ‘I am very happy after reaching Shillong Hill, it is far better than Darjeeling…… the place where we are staying is a serene one, the quiet roads are covered with Deodar (Cedrus deodara) trees and surrounded by a small brook (Umshyrpi).’ The mentioned serenity and the gurgling of the clear waters of the brook are both missing in present day Shillong and may not make tourists as happy again.
Ms. Mukhim has rightly pointed out that the lack of Environmental Governance and irresponsible human activities are responsible for the present deteriorating condition of our environment.
Today if anyone watches the city of Shillong from the view point of Shillong Peak, the greenery is only visible around the Cantonment areas; the rest of the city has been transformed into a jungle of bricks and cement. l wonder if the State Government which instructs people to, ‘Grow two trees if you cut one, to recover the loss’.
The suggestion of the group ‘Operation Clean Up’ to place wire meshes across the rivers at the point where one locality ends and another begins’ will be fruitful, provided locality wise people and NGOs supported by the government jointly shoulder the responsibility to monitor the outcome and take necessary waste management measures. In absence of such proactive initiatives by all stakeholders of good environment the river cleaning projects at some specific areas of the rivers will be useless. As a NSS Program Officer the writer experienced the same while trying to clean Umshyrpi river at a particular area in Laban with her students a few years back. The pursuit for a sustainable tomorrow can be developed with climate action behaviour that is practiced every day and not only discussed in the boardrooms and classrooms.
India is committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), that has 17 objectives such as reducing poverty, hunger, inequality and disease. It aims to improve health, education, sanitation and address climate change among others. Meghalaya should be at the forefront of this campaign for a sustainable state by creating a framework for addressing the various ecological and social issues to maintain the pristine natural beauty of the state and stand true to the meaning of its name. The collapse of a good environment will lead to a series of problems like delayed monsoon, insufficient drinking water and electricity, reduced supply of food, increased health issues, reduced livelihood opportunities, desertification, high price of everyday commodities, and social unrest among others. In fact, these negative changes have already started raising their ugly heads.
Why should the environment be a no one’s baby and be treated as an orphan? It’s high time that the concerned departments awake from their slumber and activate their clean environment agenda. After all nature is our Mother, without her nourishment we can’t survive. So, let us all be extremely careful before it is too late.
(The author is a National Awardee Teacher, Meghalaya; Chairperson, Tagore International Society of Culture, Education and Environment, Kolkata; District Resource Person, CCRT, Delhi)
Citations: Source: Nil Sonalir Bani (2010) by Dr. Usharanjan Bhattacharjee: Pg 84; Tagore and Pineland Shillong (2015) by Smt Uma Purkhayastha: pg 152. Identification of Climate Vulnerability Hot-Spots in Meghalaya (2017). Meghalaya Climate Change Centre.