By Patricia Mukhim
Meghalaya has been in the news across the country and the globe as well. For what? For a video showing a young lady – a white-skinned foreigner dancing away to the music at Police Bazar while being guarded by guys who not only enjoyed the dance exhibition but also did their dancing bit while maintaining the circle around the young lady. Good advertisement for Meghalaya and perhaps tourists will feel safer to venture even into the distant hills and mountains to explore Meghalaya without any fear. But there is a lingering question in my mind. What if the young lady dancing was a Khasi in exactly the same dress worn by the foreigner? After all, clothes are now global style statements! Would there be as much tolerance by those same men around the circle? One doesn’t know but one can guess that the levels of tolerance have double standards – one set for foreigners (white-skinned ones); another set for people from the rest of India and the third one for locals. So, let’s not make a big deal out of that viral video.
This article is not about New Year’s eve dances. The first was just to call out the double standards of morality practised by our patriarchs young and old. This article is about the diminishing ecological balance in Meghalaya. There are people in this state, particularly in Shillong city who go gaga over tradition and culture. But their idea of tradition is limited to songs and dances and how these are exhibited outside Meghalaya and outside the country. We try and sell to the world the boring notion that we still uphold the Khasi culture and tradition built around the community spirit which involved sharing of resources at a time when people grew food to survive, not to sell and make money out of farm products. At such a time there was a community sowing season and also a weeding season followed by harvesting. This culture is now alien to us. Everything we grow today is a commodity to make money from. This is fine; after all we have to evolve and we now live in a dog eat dog economic system that is cruel and rewards selfishness. It’s each to his own and the survival of the fittest. The fittest here meaning the affluent who have ensured that they convert every piece of opportunity to hard currency.
One wonders why Meghalaya has a Water Resources Department and a minister to preside over it plus an entire contingent of staff looking busy as ever. What is the outcome of this Department with 33 engineers beginning with the Chief Engineer, followed by Additional Chief Engineers, Superintending Engineers, Executive Engineers and SDOs plus the clerical baggage?
I looked up the purpose and mission of this Department and saw the following:
The Water Resources Department shall have the following functions namely:-
• All activities relating to survey and investigation, planning, construction, establishment, implementation, management and monitoring of Minor and Medium irrigation projects and schemes.
• Technical guidance and advisory services to Departments and agencies of the Government of Meghalaya in respect of provision of minor and field level irrigation services including lift and flow irrigation as well as drip irrigation.
• Command Area Development and support to land based Departments of the Government of Meghalaya for production and cultivation planning and implementation activities in command areas developed by the Department of Water Resources.
• Development and promotion of participatory Irrigation Management and support to the activities of Water User Associations in the rural sector.
• Capacity building of Engineering, technical and professional staff and personnel of the Water Resources Department and the Department of Agriculture and related agencies in the areas of water conservation management and utilization for agriculture.
• Coordination of hydrological and ground water resources assessments for the state of Meghalaya.
• Evolution of medium and short term perspective on water conservation, management and utilization for the state of Meghalaya.
• Assessment of ground and surface water potential for Irrigation and other uses.
The charter further says that the development of irrigation in the state has been slack and till date only about 25% of the identified irrigation potential of the state has been covered under the various schemes undertaken by the Department. Hence the Department is prioritising the expansion of area under irrigation by initiating a number of Minor and Medium irrigation projects, both under the state and central sector schemes.
What’s interesting are the claims of the Water Resources Department. It says, “Some of the new initiatives which the department has taken up are water harvesting structures, protection and rejuvenation of springs, rooftop rain water harvesting, multipurpose reservoirs and the repair-renovation-restoration of water bodies.
Then the charter says, “The Department is also in the process of putting in place a system for the collection, management and analysis of data for the development of water resources throughout the state under the national Hydrology Project.
My question to this huge entourage of workforce in the Water Resources Department is (a) Have they seen the condition of Umsawli in the New Shillong Township which used to be bristling with riverine life and a popular fishing ground for villagers living around the area. Just near the bridge spanning the Umsawli River there used to be a sort of water pumping station that apparently supplied power to places in Ri Bhoi. Will the engineers in the Department tasked with looking after water resources in the Greater Shillong area which includes the New Shillong Township, explain to us why the pumping station is now abandoned and under lock and key and why several trees are being cut along the banks of the river while all the branches are also thrown into the Umsawli river? The other question is – Who owns the land adjacent to the river and why is sand being dumped in the river? Are there no rules or regulations where builders are told not to discard sand, stones and other debris into the river? If the rules are there why are they not implemented and why do people get away with breaking the rules in this state?
Umsawli is just one river. The Mawpat forests are reservoirs that feed the entire Shillong city. Several trees have been brought down to make way for a road as if the builders could not find a better alignment without destroying the forests. And in all of this, one finds that the Syiem of Mylliem, the Rangbah Shnong of Mawpat and the areas around it, the District Council and the Department of Environment and Forests are in collusion. They must be held accountable. It would appear that the only route left for concerned citizens is the legal one. The High Court of Meghalaya is already burdened by several environment related cases and has been giving strict rulings and environmental guidelines but who really bothers about these court rulings? They are violated with impunity because there is no punishment for violating the rules and laws.
Hectares of prime land is now owned by a certain individual in the present government and his family members. This also tells us that there is a huge elite capture of land and it is not clear how such large parcels of land are being sold out by clans and individuals without a thought for the future. There is no clarity as to what is forest land because other than reserved forests everything belongs to the so-called community. Words like ‘community,’ ‘people’ etc are hollow words. They are idioms that mean nothing and allow vested interests to get away with crime in the name of such idiomatic phrases.
The question then is – have the Khasis abandoned their tradition of conserving water sources and forests? Or did they not have any idea at all about environmental conservation practices? Are the glorious epithets like “Ka Ri” which immediately sends some groups into romantic soirees and others to take up arms to defend it, not include the rivers and forests? Why then don’t we have a single pressure group that normally makes loud noises on sundry non-issues, speaking up for our rivers and forests that are being destroyed by humans every single day? Is it because doing so is not lucrative?
The hypocrisy in this society is jarring. We have the Khasi National Dorbar Hall which was created to debate on issues that affect the society. Why are these issues which the Khasis are fond of regurgitating about such as, “Ka Iap Ka Im Jong Ka Jaitbynriew,” (relating to the survival of the people), not discussed in the sanctum sanctorum of Khasi political consciousness? The idiosyncrasies of society need to be fleshed out and addressed rather than swept under the carpet simply because we have to keep up the façade of “donburom,” (morally correct). If the river is life, then the slow death of rivers is also the death of a people. As the wise native Americans say, “One day we will have the money but not the water.”
Sadly, not a single school, college or university has deigned to adopt a single river to ensure it is clean and that its source is not depleted of the trees that help to recharge ground water, stabilize the soil while their canopies intercept the rain and release that water slowly. It’s a whole process that the young need to learn and be sensitised to. But since much of the learning is classroom based, the young hardly connect to real life situations.
Will the Water Resources Minister please respond to the above queries?
