Arghyam Brochure Save Shillongs Rivers

8/8/2019 Arghyam Brochure Save Shillongs Rivers

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UMIAM LAKE AND SHILLONG’S RIVERS

I N S P I T E O F T H E O D D S



Umiam Lake, located 16 km rom Shillong hasbeen a bright jewel on the crown o Meghalaya.The lake draws its name rom the River Umiam,which was dammed in 1965 to create NorthEast India’s rst hydel power project.

Umiam Lake though downstream o the cityo Shillong, is deeply connected to it, as it is

ed by the two rivers, Wah Umkhrah and WahUmshyrpi. These two rivers cut across thebustling cityscape and join Umiam downstream.For years, Shillong has derived its identity

rom these rivers. Localities like Laitumkhrah,Pynthorumkhrah, Umpling and Wahingdohowes their names to the Wah Umkhrah River.Wah Umkhrah is also considered semi divineas it one o the khyndai umtong (nine streams)

o mythic origin. These streams emanate romShillong Peak, which is worshipped as the chiedeity o the Khasis.

Khasi poet, Late Bah Victor G Bareh, besidesglori ying, also emphasised on the phenomenalrole o the river in his poem Ka Wahumkhrah:‘La um jakhlia ia tngit pyrthei, Ha pha ki wanb’an theh kyntei, Pha rong ia ki sha trai duriaw.’ (Though turbid waters o the world empty intoyou, You carry all this to the bottom o the seas).

As these two rivers cleave the city, they carrywith them voluminous water that reachesUmiam Lake. This in turn leads to productiono electricity or the State o Meghalaya andespecially the city o Shillong. Elders recall thatUmkhrah and Umshyrpi were sparkling cleanwater bodies. People swam, shed and evendrank the water.

Today, Shillong’s river systems are a sad storyo Paradise Lost. Shillong has turned its backtowards its natural ecosystems. River’s Umkhrahand Umshyrpi are little but open drains insummer, where the water is black with sewageand kitchen waste. During monsoons, it is deepbrown, carrying huge amounts o sediments asland use continues to change upstream.

The pollution o Shillong’s rivers is symbolic othe human world that surrounds it. I Shillongwas to revive its rivers, it would have to lookinwards. It would require rebuilding socialrelationships and reviving environmentalresponsibility.

And it’s about time that this happened…

S Y N O P S I S

D I D Y O U K N O W ? • Umiam (Lake) has a catchment area o

221.5 sq km which almost double the sizeo Chandigarh, the capital city o Punjaband Haryana?

• Umiam Lake was created by damming theUmiam River in 1965. It originated as anarti cial reservoir or the Umiam Umtru HydroElectric Power project, the rst o its kind inthe North East India?

• Umiam River is ormed by the meeting oWah Umkhrah and Wah Umshyrpi rivers meet.Both these rivers cut across Shillong city andmanypeople dump their household wastes intothem?

• All this is carried to the Umiam Lake which isterribly polluted. The lake water cannot beused or any domestic purpose whatsoeverwithout treatment?

• Umiam Lake is the major source o resh shor Shillong city. The rest are imported rom

neighbouring States and reaches the customera ter spending weeks in cold storage?

• Umiam Lake has good potential or sustainabletourism. It can generate local employment or theyoung unemployed?

WAHRORO

WAH UMSHYRPI RIVER

UMIAM RIVER

UMIAM LAKE

T O G U W A H A T I

HOME VALLEY

UPPERSHILLONG

EASTERN AIRCOMMAND T O

C H E R A

P U N J

I T O J O W A J & S I L C H A R

WAH UMKHRAH RIVER

T H E R I V E R S Y S T E M

O F S H I L L O N G

A D M I N I S T R A T I V E B O U N D A R I E S

O F S H I L L O N G C I T Y

MAWLAI

PYNTHORMUKHRAH

NONGMYNSONG

NONGTHYMMAI

MADANRTING

SHILLONGMUNICIPALBOARD

SHILLONGCANTONMENT

• Approximately 2,025 million litres o sewage enters into rivers Umkhrah and Umshyrpievery year

• An estimated total o 20–25 metric tons o solid waste nd its way to the rivers and streamso Shillong every day.

• 42% o sewage generated in the Umkhrah River catchment is discharged as either raw orpartially treated sewage directly into the river system

• In the dry season, sewage infow makes up approximately 10% o average monthly river fowin the Umshyrpi River and 20% in Umkhrah River

• The rivers Wah Umkhrah and Wah Umshyrpi decide the health o the city o Shillong. Thestink rom the rivers has reduced the real estate value around their banks. Rivers are nowbreeding grounds or mosquitoes

• Flooding brings up all the lth rom the rivers and deposits it right at the doorstep o those

living next to the rivers. This has signi cant public health impacts

• Studies peg average loss caused due to fooding and landslips to the order o Rs. 2,500 perhousehold and a loss o 3 to 4 working days

• An estimated 40,000 cubic metres o silt enter Umiam Lake every year

• Umiam Lake produces most o the electricity or Meghalaya even now. As it silts up, it’spotential to generate electricity decreases. Shillong has been witnessing severe power cuts insummer or the last 5 years

*All data has been collated rom various scientifc and consultancy reports rom 2005 onwards

F A C T S H E E T O N A C R I S I S *

UMIAM LAKE 2002

UMIAM LAKE 2006

UMIAM LAKE 2009

SHILLONG



V O I C E S “Umiam means crying river in Khasi, and every time I see our polluted

rivers, I wonder how long this river will continue to cry”. Barkos Warjri(IAS), Additional Chie Secretary, Government o Meghalaya

“The water in Umiam Lake is so polluted that only the toughest fsh cansurvive in it”. Bah Hep, sherman dependent on Umiam Lake orhis livelihood.

“The pollution o the rivers show that the citizens o Shillong are not concerned about their own natural assets”.

“All the dirt that accumulates in the stream gets washed away in the monsoons. I have been saying that had that not happened, Shillong would have su ered the same ate as that o Surat in 1994 during the plague”. Ofyn Dohling, Secretary – Synjuk ki Rangbah Shnong,Meghalaya

“We should not allow any more expansion o polluting industries around Umiam. It must be developed as a pristine tourist area”. ConradSangma, Former Power Minister, Meghalaya

• Create bu er zones around the river, put into action MeghalayaProtection o Catchment Act (1990). There should be a serious e ortto develop rules or the same.

• Use Legal provisions to ensure catchment riendly quarrying & o erpolicy incentives

• Explore / Review gaps in present Acts and in their implementation,suggest appropriate methods to plug the same.

• Explore possibilities & establish decentralized sewage treatmentsystems in Shillong

•Control soil loss through participatory watershed activities

• Prioritize sub-catchments as mapped out by North East SpaceApplication Center (NESAC) and appropriately design intervention asa pilot

• Control orest res in Umiam Catchment through e cientmonitoring and response systems

• Explore phyto-remediation options through foriculture to reducepollutant infow into lake

• Setting up o environment riendly recycling units to manage both biodegradable and non biodegradable waste

• Monitor sediment infow and control the same at Wah Ro Ro

• Take up a neighborhood and work with the SMB / Dorbars in aneighborhood cleanup campaign, draw learning’s rom earlier e ortsinitiated by and leverage on the same

• Set up a web based open access point or all reports and researchwork on Umiam, Umkhrah and Umshyrpi to enable data based actionpossible

• Encourage household composting o organic / kitchen waste. Provideincentives or households to do the same

• Convert Shillong Peak into a community conserved area / sanctuary

• Initiate Government and Civil Society collaboration or a campaignaimed towards Lake and Catchment conservation

*These points emerged during a stakeholder learning dialogue which took place in Shillong

on 9th and 10th o March 2009. The event was hosted by Peoples Learning Centre (PLC,

Shillong) with support rom Arghyam, Bangalore

L E G A L & P O L I C Y

T E C H N I C A L

S O C I A L & C U L T U R A L

C I T I Z E N ’ S P L A N O F A C T I O N O N S A V I N G S H I L L O N G ’ S L A K E S & R I V E R S *

T H E C H A L L E N G E In 2009, People’s Learning Centre, an NGO based in Shillong, supported by Arghyam,

a non pro t oundation based in Bangalore, initiated a challenge programme on SavingShillong’s Rivers and Umiam Lake. Under this programme PLC has has initiated a numbero activities to tackle the issue o pollution and dumping o solid waste in the river and lakecatchment. The work ranges across grassroots awareness campaigns to advocacy at theState level and review o relevant policies. The ocus is on bringing together institutions tomanage the catchment o the Lake and the city’s river systems, holistically.

G U I D I N G O B J E C T I V E S • Promote water literacy across all stakeholder groups

• Create a dedicated, environmentally conscious youth base that will speak to people throughtheir e orts

• Facilitate dialogue between traditional institutions (dorbars) and Government Departmentsor decentralized solid waste management

• Promote catchment riendly policies and practices through documentation and advocacy

• Facilitate citizen’s action in reduced river and lake pollution



S T E P B Y S T E P :

W O R K D O N E T I L L N O W • 2 inter college debate competitions on Shillong’s environment hosted by PLC at Don Bosco

Youth Centre in 2009 and 2010 on the topics related to Shillong’s environment

• 11 interactive public education campaigns has taken place in Polo Bazaar, Bara bazaar,CRPF Camp, Police Bazaar, MUDA Complex, Umshyrpi College, St Anthony’s, St. Edmunds,Laitmukhrah (2)

• 1 Convergence Meeting in 2009 at the Main Secretariat, Government o Meghalaya, as aollow up to the stakeholder learning dialogue. This meeting brought together the then Chie

Secretary and Commissioner, Planning, Government o Meghalaya and representatives romvarious Government departments, dorbar heads, NGOs and the business community

• 1 training on mapping the lake catchment and geo tagging photographs o pollution pointsattended by college lecturers, journalists, representatives o local dorbars

• 1 training on Bokashi method o composting organic waste and its economic potential orlocal livelihoods imparted to Dorbar representatives rom Pynthor and Lawmali

• 1 Shared Learning Dialogue (SLD) acilitated between Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) in

collaboration with Bethany Society, Shillong, Meghalaya Pollution Control Board (MPCB) andDorbars representatives rom Pynthor, Lawmali and Jaiaw Shyiap

• 1 in ormal discussion between PLC and NEHU pro essors and research scholars onapplication o University research in use in mitigating river pollution in Shillong

• 1 planning meeting between PLC, dorbars and NEHU pro essors where Dr. Syiem, pro essorGeography Department, NEHU strongly suggested amendments to the Meghalaya Protectiono Catchment Areas Act

• 2 cross-dorbars meeting in July and August 2010 where PLC and the dorbars that arealready collaborating on the Save the River Wahumkhrah project shared about their e ortsand proposed the involvement o other dorbars in this initiative.

M I L E S T O N E S In 2009, PLC organized a two day Stakeholder Learning Dialogue on Umiam Lake

Conservation. It witnessed participation rom Government Departments, Dorbars, NGOs,Citizens Groups, Media, Academic and Research Institutions and representatives o variouscitizens groups. At the end, a citizen’s plan o action was developed.

Post workshop, the O ce o the Chie Secretary, Government o Meghalaya convened ameeting inviting representatives o line departments to discuss the ollow up to the citizensplan o action developed at the Stakeholder Learning Dialogue. Some o the importantrecommendations unanimously agreed upon ollowing the discussions were:

• Empowering local Dorbars by directly involving and entrusting them to protect the rivers that fow and ultimately drain into the Umiam Lake.

• Formation of a Common Fund with resources pooled in from line departments (forestry, public health, urban a airs, MSEB, etc.) to initiate implementation o the Action Plan.

• Formation of a Core Committee comprising of representatives from line departments and non-govt. organizations to ollow-up and carry the meeting resolutions orward. TheCommittee would meet every

Pynthor Dorbar was inspired by the idea o contributing to citizen initiatives to solid wastemanagement. Hence, rom March 2010 a women’s SHG with the support o the dorbarbegan collecting, composting and selling organic household kitchen waste. The end goal isto turn Pynthor into a zero waste disposal zone. Hope ully, soon enough, Pynthor would haveemerged as the rst Dorbar that has managed to keep its stretch o River Umkhrah ree romgarbage dumping and accumulation.

A number o meetings took place between various dorbars. The agenda was to come to aconsensus on managing garbage dumping in Umkhrah. The dorbars reiterated that theyneeded support rom the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB). Hence, a dialogue between thedorbars and SMB was convened by PLC in 2010. For the rst time in Shillong’s history,these two institutions sat across the table and discussed how they can help each other orriver conservation. The then CEO o SMB, was very positive on a collaboration betweendorbars and the government. The scientists rom the Meghalaya Pollution Control Board,committed to bring out the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ regarding pollution in the Khasi language anddistribute these to all dorbars. It was also decided that a team comprising o PLC membersand some dorbar representatives would meet with the Chie Secretary to track the WorkingCommittee that was ormed some years back mainly or the revival o Umkhrah.

At MUDA Shopping Complex in Police Bazaar, a unique sight greeted shoppers on WorldEnvironment Day, 5th June 2010. Adorning the wall o the complex were painted tiles. Eachdepicted contemporary environmental issues, such as river and industrial pollution andde orestation. This was a result o an inter-school Painting Competition organized by PLC.By putting these issues up ront at the centre o consumption in Shillong, young school kidssent out a serious message.



In spite o all odds, Umkhrah and Umshyrpi still fow through the city oShillong. However, i nothing is done to prevent encroachment and pollution, itmay stop doing so. As the rivers become open drains, Umiam Lake will becomea stinking marsh.

One solution is to make people and institutions talk to each other. Everybodymanages their bit o the catchment in their own way. There is a need to stitchtogether diverse interventions and make them work towards a common objective.

The other is to generate a civic response to this crisis.

WE URGE YOU TO...

To people who dump their household garbage in the river.To authorities who does not provide amenities or waste disposal.

Institutions making an e ort to address this crisis.

Public debates by attending meetings and voicing your opinions.

Peer groups who believes in a clean shillong and works towards it.Dialogue with your local representatives on their role in this issue.

REACT

SUPPORT

INITIATE

AT EVERY STEP OF THE WAY, REMIND YOURSELF THAT NOTHING CAN BEWORSE THAN LEAVING BEHIND A FILTHY CITY FOR THE NEXT GENERATION

Together we can make a change!

PEOPLE’S LEARNING CENTREMatti-i-Mei, Mawlai MawrohShillong-793008Email: [email protected]

ARGHYAM599, 12th Main, HAL 2nd StageIndiranagar, Bangalore 560008, IndiaEmail: in [email protected]

C O N T A C T U S

WRITTEN BYAmitangshu Acharya (Arghyam, Bangalore), Darilyn Syiem (PLC, Shillong), Farida Warjri (PLC Shillong)

PHOTO COURTESYDarilyn Syiem, Balwan Joshua Mawrie, Farida Warjri, Amitangshu Acharya

DESIGNED BYKena Design, Bangalore (www.kenadesign.com)

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Arghyam Brochure Save Shillongs Rivers