By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Jan 18: The San Shnong Youth Welfare Organisation (SSYWO), as the name suggests, is an organisation comprising members from five villages of which was formed in 1998 formally came together to manage the Elephant Falls in 2000.
It is for the first time that a community organisation came forward and approached the Government of Meghalaya to allow it to manage this most popular tourism destination that had in the 1990s earned the dubious distinction of being unsafe for tourists, with stray attacks on tourists happening from time to time.
Then came DD Laloo, a tour promoter whose family started with a restaurant in Mawmluh, near Sohra in the early 1990s. Laloo counselled the SSYWO to form into a solid organisation and to run the Elephant Falls like a proper tourist destination with all the facilities including proper parking, toilet facilities and sales counters for refreshments and handicrafts from Meghalaya.
Narrating the sequence of events on Saturday when the SSYWO organised its launch of the Silver Jubilee celebrations, Laloo, who was also the chief guest for the occasion and has remained the advisor to the organisation since its inception, said he accompanied the youths to the then Tourism Secretary, Arindam Som, and asked that the government grant permission for the organisation to run the facility and also to allocate certain parts of the forested area for parking facilities.
He said the idea is to not only make it safe for tourists to visit but to also allow them an immersive experience as they trudge down the stairs to watch the waterfalls with well-trained guides. The government has never regretted that decision for the Elephant Falls is now a must-visit and most secure tourist destination.
In May 2016, the Elephant Falls was one destination that Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose to stop by to behold and to engage with the SSYWO while on his way to the Mawphlang Sacred Grove.
Today, the Elephant Falls is managed by security personnel who are paid by the organisation. But the SSYWO is also an organisation with a commitment to help those in dire need of economic assistance within the five villages of Pomlum, Marbaniang-Umseiniong, Baniun, Laitjem and Sadew.
In 2021, when COVID-19 hit the state and country, the SSYWO sought permission from the government to set up stalls for farmers to sell their produce.
Accordingly, the government assisted the organisation in setting up temporary stalls to tide over the economic crises faced by the farmers due to the sudden lockdown of markets in Shillong and elsewhere. The SSYWO strictly maintained all the COVID-19 protocols in these stalls and people from everywhere thronged the market to purchase their vegetables and fruits.
The SSYWO managed to start its work through the donations received from Late Honsen Lyngdoh and Shrolenson Marbaniang. DD Laloo also invested in the organisation.
Today, the organisation employs the local youth and women to manage different aspects of the tourist destination which has become a viable enterprise.
It may be mentioned that the organisation has been able to procure two ambulances in these 25 years to be kept at the service of the community in the five villages and in case of any emergency in the tourist destination.
The SSYWO has also been awarded with the Vocational Award from the Rotary Club of Shillong in 2008.
They also received the Meghalaya Youth Community Award 2015 from the Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs amongst other awards.
Lionel Nongkhlaw, who has for the longest time held the post of general secretary of the SSYWO, had recently handed over charge as he intends to contest the upcoming elections to the KHADC as an independent candidate.
The present president, Wilbert Rynjah, earlier welcomed the guests to the grand event while assistant general secretary, Iaraplang Rynjah, listed out the achievements of the organisation in the last 24 years.
In his speech, Lionel urged the SSYWO to remain united and aim high and to resolve issues in the organisation amicably in the larger interests of the community and to continue to serve those in most need of help and assistance within the San Shnong (five associated villages).