By Our Special Correspondent
SHILLONG, Oct 12: In what can be described as a revolutionary step, Sohra has emerged as the first tourist hub that has ventured into a realm that has not been given much attention by the government – managing waste beyond Shillong.
With a teeming number of visitors on any given day, the tour promoters of Sohra have seen first-hand the reckless garbage disposal most of which is thrown into the gorges. Out of sight may be out of mind but most plastic wastes take hundreds of years to degrade. Meanwhile such garbage lands up in rivers and clog their robust flow. Garbage in landfills emits methane gas which is up to 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the short term.
Under the aegis of the Clean and Green Sohra campaign and the Hima Sohra Tourism Committee the up and coming Scientific Waste Management Project is set to become a model for other tourism villages to follow considering that most of them either burn the plastic waste of bury them in the soil thereby creating air pollution.
It is to pre-empt any environmental disaster cause by untreated garbage that is generated by the plethora of home-stays, hotels, guest houses, restaurants and cafes and various viewpoints that the Hima Sohra has taken serious note of managing garbage scientifically.
On Saturday, Syiem of Hima Sohra, Freeman Syiem signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Assam-based Concrea Infrastructure Private Ltd represented by Dr Sachin Raimurti the Founder-Director of the company, to systematically and scientifically manage garbage with the possibility of generating energy from waste.
The lease signed is for a period of 31 years and the company would subsequently invest ₹20 crore or more in a couple of years to set up a compressed gas plant. Also the company would be responsible for the collection of garbage using local human resources. Land for this project has been provided by the community at Mawkyrdup Sohra within the Sohra Syiemship.
Addressing the gathering at the foundation stone laying ceremony for the project, Syiem said the waste management system was a dire need and the community have realised the importance of this project hence the allocation of three acres of land to be used exclusively for this project.
Alan West Kharkongor, adviser of the Hima Sohra Tourism Committee, told the gathering that if tourism is to become a sustainable venture in Sohra since it is also the only livelihood opportunity for many, especially, after the closure of the Mawmluh Cherra Cements Ltd, then people have to think for the long term to ensure.
He said that what people come to Sohra for is to admire the environment but if the environment turns ugly because of poor garbage management it is the Sohra people who will lose out.
He encouraged the people of Sohra to rise as one to ensure that the project works to the benefit of their area.
“We already have young people who pick up garbage in different tourist spots but they have nowhere to throw the garbage. It all lands up in the gorges,” Kharkongor added.
Dr Raimurti expressed enthusiasm about starting the waste management project saying, “It will be smokeless and odourless and will leave behind zero waste.”
Dr Raimurti said that garbage comprises many different articles from plastics to paper to garments, shoes, and all kinds of domestic waste which can be segregated and go to different industries and be converted into new products.
Also present at the function as special guest was Patricia Mukhim, Editor of The Shillong Times. She exhorted the youth and elders present at the meeting to care for the environment as it is now at a very fragile stage. She also lauded Hima Sohra for being the first Hima to have futuristic goals for sustaining the environment and hoped that other tourist destinations would also take up this issue of scientific waste management in earnest.
Secretary Hima Sohra, BV Rymmai welcomes the guests to the function while the Syiem Khynnah of Hima Sohra, Marremdor Syiem thanked the guests who were present at the function.
