Shillong MP, Ricky Syngkon has done well by blowing the whistle on the National Highway Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) dumping debris on the pristine Umgot River. The Umgot River – the pride and joy of Meghalaya which is crystal clear especially during the winter season, has now turned muddy. But this is hardly surprising. Large-scale, relentless earth cutting by the NHIDCL along the Pynursla – Dawki route for constructing the 4-lane highway has shocked environmentalists and even ordinary tourists who have a natural urge to visit Dawki to behold the pristine waters of the Umngot River. The Umgot is the reason for what is termed as “return tourism” – visitors revisiting and bringing others with them to watch this river as it wends its way into Bangladesh. Over a period of time it has been noticed that the Umgot has become murky during the monsoon season because of earth cutting activities in the upper riparian areas. Needless to say Meghalaya’s loss of forest cover is so striking that attempts by groups like Earchbanc via the Regeneration Meghalaya project to restore the eco-system by planting lakhs of trees will take a long time to cover up every deforested space.
Stone quarrying and sand mining are carrying on unabated but when such activities are carried out by locals they get away by claiming that it’s their right to a livelihood. Even politicians prefer to turn a blind eye to such assaults on the environment. The Shillong MP has never called out the local groups for similar earth cutting activities for the purpose of quarrying and selling off hundreds of truckloads of boulders every day to Bangladesh. Both activities are equally destructive so it would be fair to say that when the MP shows environmental concern and takes up an issue, he should treat all such ecological assaults with the same concern as the NHIDCL case.
As far as the NHIDCL is concerned it has been a habitual offender wherever it has worked and has been regularly pulled up by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) but has always managed to scrape through the cracks in the legal system. It will be interesting to see how the VPP-led Khasi Hills District Council handles this matter. After all, the brief for ensuring that rivers don’t turn into dumping grounds for earth and the forests don’t disappear by the day rests with the District Council which is mandated to take action. Such action unfortunately has not been visible. All the rivers in Meghalaya are turning into garbage dumps and has necessitated that concerned citizens take the matter to court such as in the case of the Myntdu river.
The destruction of the Umngot will see not just the loss of livelihoods for the boatmen but is also a loss of Meghalaya’s soul and identity. Pictures of the Umngot river find a place among the world’s photo-scape. Above all there are fisherfolk too who earn their livelihoods from the same river. It remains to be seen how the NHIDCL responds to this environmental crisis.
