KHLIEHRIAT:
Forests and Environment minister James K Sangma laid the foundation stone for the project “Restoration of Kyrhuhkhla and Lunar Rivers using Phycoremediation Technology” at Umsyllih, Khliehriat West, recently.
“This is a project of great importance as it is going to benefit the people of this area; the rivers will come back to life and we will use this technology and keep scaling it up to also include other rivers in our state,” Sangma said.
The restoration work of the rivers is being carried out by Trinity International and funded by the Meghalaya Environment Protection and Restoration Fund (MEPRF) and it will benefit 25 villages in the district that falls on the path of the Lunar river.
The event, which was a part of the Meghalaya Environment Week 2022 to observe the World Environment Day on June 5, was followed by the launch of the project “Reclamation of Coal mining-affected land through afforestation” at Pohskhen, Khliehriat East.
Sangma also said that the project is being done after the successful completion of the pilot project at certain points of the Lukha river by Trinity International.
Mentioning the theme for World Environment Day 2022, “Only One Earth”, he said that for life to sustain itself or to exist there are two things that are required – air and water. “And these two programmes bear a lot of significance as they are related to both these elements,” he said.
Elaborating on the technology that has been used for the restoration of the two rivers, Sangma said the phycoremediation project is a simple project using nature to solve nature’s problems. He also said that the government is coming up with out-of-the-box solutions in nature called bioremediation to solve environmental problems.
Sangma concluded his speech by thanking the Deputy Director General of Forest Ministry of Environment and Forest, Climate Change, Regional Office, Shillong, Imtienla Ao, the government of India, and the officials of the Department of Mining and Geology, Forest and Environment Department and the Trinity International for their hard work and support in making these projects a reality.