SHILLONG, July 25: The state government on Thursday said the major sources of water in the state had dried up recently due to global warming and environmental degradation.
These are the main sources for the supply of potable water to the residents of the state.
Shillong and other parts of the state had faced an acute shortage of water for some time until the rains arrived and improved the situation.
Public Health Engineering (PHE) Minister Marcuise Marak said the state government has identified over 740 critical water sources in the state through the Climate Council.
The Climate Council was constituted to mitigate climate issues. The chief minister is its chairperson.
The Climate Council has issued directions for taking immediate measures to address issues at the identified critical sources so that the PHE does not face any problem in supplying potable water to the residents.
A couple of months ago, before the arrival of monsoon, the state was reeling under heat wave and dry spell conditions. The Mawphlang dam, which is the main reservoir supplying drinking water to Shillong, was drying up.
Similarly, the Umiew river, which feeds the dam, was also drying up quickly, raising concerns about an imminent water crisis in Shillong. Things, however, changed with the arrival of monsoon rains.
Earlier, the state government had spoken about pursuing initiatives to mitigate the crisis with projects, amounting to Rs 350 crore, aimed at rejuvenating the catchment areas of vital rivers, such as Umiew and Ganol, which serve as the lifelines of Shillong and Tura respectively.
