The Government of Meghalaya appears to be working only at the directive of the High Court or the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on the issue of rivers. Recently the Government reconstituted the River Rejuvenation Committee (RRC) ostensibly to prepare and execute an action plan for restoring identified polluted river stretches. The mandate of this Committee is to restore the rivers to a standard fit for humans to bathe in. Earlier in 2022 an expert committee was set up by the Government to prepare an action plan for the restoration of polluted water bodies in the state. The 10-member expert panel headed by the then Meghalaya Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) was to submit the action plan to the government. Then too the Government had set up the water bodies Committee in compliance with a High Court order. This body was to advise the state government on measures for the restoration and protection of water bodies in the state using the latest technology and methods for cleaning and rejuvenating water bodies.
We are now in 2026 but not a single river has reached a point where it can be pronounced as being free from faecal matter, chemicals and other pollutants. The Umkhrah River continues to remain not just muddy but a carrier of human and animal faecal matter and garbage. The Umshyrpi is no different. The problem is that people appointed to such exalted bodies hardly see a river and much less dip their feet into it. Yet they make high sounding plans which will ultimately show the need for financial resources to tackle river pollution. But several years down the line the state of the rivers within Shillong city itself remains more polluted than they have ever been with people turning them into garbage dumps. What’s worse is that all rules and laws pertaining to river conservation are never implemented. Houses are built right on the river and no authority has anything to say to such violators. Vehicles are regularly washed in the Umkaliar and many other rivers with no one to stop them. Why make laws when institutions like the State Pollution Control Board don’t have the teeth to implement those laws? The District Councils which are the prime stakeholders do not have the wherewithal to implement any law pertaining to river conservation. The only thing they are capable of doing is to get funds and construct some netting which is a one -time plan. They have no long-term river rejuvenation or conservation plan. The Dorbar Shnong who should be the eyes and ears of the Government in this important project also are left out of the grand scheme of things
The recently constituted RRC will follow the exact terms of reference as its predecessor. The Committee is top heavy and loaded with officials but with no civil society activists or environmental NGOs included when they are the ones who have been fighting to conserve rivers and filing PILs in court. This officialdom is destined to fail as its predecessor has in the past. As of 2022 the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had listed nearly 351 polluted river stretches of which 7 flow through Meghalaya. They include the Umkhrah, Umshyrpi, Kyrhuh-khla, Nongbah, Umtrew, Lukha and Myntdu. The Lukha is a dead river with no solution having emanated on its rejuvenation. Will the NGT take sterner measures to ensure that the rivers of Meghalaya do not reach a point of no return?
