Cleaning Shillong’s rivers – The Shillong Times

From Toki Blah

The anchor column of this newspaper of March 8, 2021 read: “DC gives weight to the daunting task of purifying Umkaliar”. The above apparently relates to Operation Clean Up Drive, initiated by the Shillong Times, which invites volunteers to band together as a civic group to clean up the Wahumkhrah River in Umkaliar in order to raise public awareness of the condition of the two rivers flowing through Shillong City . The state of Wah Umkhrah and Umshyrpi, especially in the dry season, is pathetic to say the least. For some of us who have seen the pristine state of the two rivers in the past, their condition is now heartbreaking. Worse still, the two rivers, with all the filth they carry, eventually drain into the umiam. The Umiam from Rawraw down to Jingkieng Kalong, a 5 km stretch of river, has turned into a stinking sewer covered with the slimy scales of discarded plastic bottles and bags. The only redeeming feature is that this stretch is not visible to the general public, but still poses a direct threat to the life of Umiam Lake and its ability to continue generating electricity. Something has to be done.

There are three questions that must be answered in order to clean up the Umkhrah and Umshyrpi. First we have to ask ourselves who is polluting the rivers and how? The answer is very simple. It is obvious that rivers do not pollute themselves. However, the state of the rivers is determined by their catchment areas, and Shillong and Greater Shillong constitute the catchment area for both the Umshyrpi and the Umkhrah. This catchment area is in turn traversed by streams, brooks, gorges and drains that empty into the two rivers. Plastic bags, plastic bottles, Thermacol packaging, paper, clothing, even mattresses and all kinds of rubbish are drained into drains that lead into the Umkhrah and Umshyrpi. Direct dumping is not required. Due to the hilly and sloping nature of the terrain, everything that is dumped somewhere ends up in the next stream at some point. Our septic tanks are discharged either directly or indirectly into drains that flow into the rivers. If we piously wonder who polluted our rivers, the damn answer is that it is our own fault. Once we accept the correctness of the above, the answer to the following question becomes self explanatory.

The second question we ask ourselves is: who then should clean our filthy rivers and how? The answer to this question is obvious. We cannot have one group of sloppy citizens throwing their trash in the river and another group of concerned citizens cleaning up the former’s mess. This will not work and is not sustainable. The state of the two rivers also shows that the number of sloppy citizens with a bourgeois spirit is far higher than those with a bourgeois spirit. It can be clearly seen that this introduction of solid and liquid waste into our river systems is knowingly, intentionally, and with the full knowledge that it is wrong. It will take more than just public awareness programs to stop this. What is really needed is a local authority overseeing a vigorous citizen campaign in its own jurisdiction. The role of such an authority, with the support of the district administration, is to raise citizens’ awareness.

The third and final question we need to ask is: What is the most sustainable way to clean the rivers? The best and actually only sustainable way is to manage waste disposal at the source, ie in the home. As mentioned above, waste management should be enforced at the household level. In turn, household-level waste management should be supported by (a) constant and relentless enforcement (b) by an economically motivated approach. If we want to dispose of both solid and liquid waste, three main actors need to be identified. First, the government, which needs to identify and implement a sanitation system for all liquid waste that comes from households. The septic tanks used must be connected to such a sewage system. In second place is MUDA, which identifies all solid waste collected and links them to viable markets. These will be organic and inorganic waste markets. Third, the district administration will work closely with the local Dorbars to strictly enforce the necessary civic sensitivity at the household and Dorbar level.

Readers will ask, what role then does the church play in all of this? To be honest, as long as the church remains detached, its role as an institution of the people is temporarily restricted. We won’t talk about it. The newest institutions for what we are up to, for both municipal and non-municipal areas, will be the Dorbars, who work closely with the district administration. Solid waste is separated into organic and inorganic waste at household level. The Dorbars will rigorously enforce segregation through locally employed garbage collectors (unemployed local youth) who are paid based on the number of households they oversee. The Dorbars charge a service fee from each household, which helps to cover the respective maintenance costs for each Dorbar. Start-up capital to help the Dorbars meet their initial expenses can be provided by the county council, which the government budget for.

The separated organic and inorganic waste is then collected by MUDA garbage trucks. MUDA will budget the government for this. The collected waste is then transported to predetermined markets. For example, plastic waste can be shipped to cement plants where such waste is used as fuel. Other types of inorganic waste already have markets in place and jobs can be created for those interested in marketing such waste. An all-women SHG already deals with organic waste at Marten and will welcome any additional raw material in their company. This is an economical waste disposal system. It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved. Employment is created; The city and our rivers are kept clean. solved the problem of Marten; and the most important civic awareness and awareness will have been created in the minds of the public.

When it comes to liquid waste, we need to develop a system that will stop the habit of emptying our septic tanks into the nearest drain. Please never think that you are immune to this habit. Everyone in Shillong indulges in this consciously or unknowingly. Ask yourself: how do you clean your overflowing septic tank and where does the garbage go? The answer is for a sewer system or a range of mini urban sewer systems. The technology for this is available even when funds are lacking. However, ADB, World Bank and other international funding agencies can be used for the necessary funds. In conclusion, it must be said that the government can no longer ignore our dying urban rivers. It needs to take a call and support a cleaning strategy that is sustainable and people-centric. We have the institutions and the people to do that. Please don’t let us waste any more time on the subject.

The author is the President of ICARE

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