By Our Special Correspondent
Shillong: The ‘Save Wah Umkhrah campaign’ spearheaded by ICARE has picked up steam after several stakeholders including the Synjuk ki Rangbah Shnong (SRS), the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU), Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP), the Synjuk Ki Seng Samla Shnong (SSSS), Lympung Ki Seng Kynthei (LKSK), Meghalaya Women’s Alliance (MWA) and representatives from the Shillong Cantonment Board, the Ex-servicemen Association, Central Reserved Police Force (CRPF) and District Administration of East Khasi Hills, amongst others have come on board with a firm commitment to engage in cleaning up the river on a long term basis.
Making a presentation based on scientific surveys conducted by several research scholars and other agencies on the human activities along the entire length of the Umkhrah River, East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner, Sanjay Goyal, gave startling statistics and a graphic presentation of the quantum of mobil oil and other effluents released by garages into the Umkhrah. Several homes along the river release their latrines directly into the water including other solid wastes, causing pollution well beyond any permissible limit.
All the stakeholders present were asked to give their commitment to take up some responsibility on the clean-up job.
A fervent and spirited commitment came from the KSU. Its newly appointed president, Daniel Khyriem, said one of the priorities of the Union is environment conservation.
“We have not been able to do much on this issue but are now committed to work with all the stakeholders present here. We will meet all Dorbar Shnong whose residents are directly discharging their latrines into the Umkhrah River and also sensitize those who dispose garbage and chemical toxins into the river. The task might look daunting but if we all cooperate and share responsibility we can do wonders,” Khyriem said.
Rangbah Shnong of Jaiaw, D Marbaniang, said this is not the first attempt to clean the Umkhrah but it always ended in talks and no action. He however committed to work in tandem with the group. Marbaniang raised a pertinent question. “Who does the Wah Umkhrah belong to?” he asked. He answered the question himself saying that it was recently disclosed by the District Council that the Umkhrah River is the property of the Syiem of Mylliem.
Others in the meeting wondered that if the Wah Umkhrah is the property of the Mylliem Syiemship then was it the Syiem who allowed encroachments along the river or allowed individuals to claim portions of the river for their private residence, thereby shortening the width of the river. An owner also has responsibilities they said, so, how did the Syiem of Mylliem allow the Umkhrah River to degenerate to its present state, they asked. Representative of the Mylliem Syiemship, Myntri K Langstieh, who was present at the meeting, said the Dorbar Syiem would join in the cleaning drive.
The meeting resolved to raise the campaign pitch through a series of build-up dates. The first major campaign would be on World Water Day- March 22, followed by Earth Day – April 22 and culminating on World Environment Day – June 5, following which a series of actions would be taken up by respective stakeholders based on a clearly laid out strategy.
