SHILLONG:
The Urban Affairs Minister, Sniawbhalang Dhar stated that the department intends to take up the cleaning and rejuvenation of the Wah Umkhrah through the Shillong Municipal Board.
In a written reply to an unstarred question posed by Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) Adelbert Nongrum, the minister stated that the work includes dredging at certain stretches where there has been massive accumulation of garbage over the years, and as on date about 2000 metric of garbage has been lifted and disposed in the sanitary landfill at Marten.
He stated that the dredging had been carried on over 2.5 kms stretch of the river.
As part of an effort to prevent littering throughout the river stretch, stone bunds are to be constructed at certain points. The objective is two-fold – to arrest floating garbage and remove it at an easily accessible point and to make the river more aesthetic by having natural looking barriers instead of concrete check dams.
Moreover, these bunds which are about 1.00 to 1.50 meters high will not interfere with the flow of the river and no concern will arise from the bunds causing possible floods.
A solid waste trap will be installed at the idol immersion ghat and at the outfalls of the tributaries to the river. These works will be funded by the Finance Commission at a cost of Rs 3.60 crore.
EFFLUENT TREATMENT PLANTS TO BE SET UP
In addition, under Amrut, 4 numbers of Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs) will be set up at the outfalls, 4 tributaries of the Wah Umkhrah and 1 tributary of Umshyrpi to further improve the water quality of the river, the ETPs are meant to treat the water in
the selected drains before it is discharged into the river.
Further under Smart Cities Mission, another five drains will be treated using Bio-remediation technology.
Using this technology that does not require chemical treatment, it is possible to clean the parameters of water quality before discharging it into Wah Umkhrah.
Along with the above works, the Shillong Municipal Board is also strengthening its waste management system.
Through awareness campaigns improvement in the collection efficiency, improvement in the level of segregation at source, addition of newer equipment with up-to-date technology to bring more efficiency in cleaning of drains and roads and efforts are being steeped up to prevent haphazard disposal of solid waste in the Umkhrah and Umshyrpi and into the drains and streams flowing into the rivers.
These efforts also include the eradication of direct discharge of sewage into the river and their tributaries.
Dhar stated, “As a matter of fact, the works for cleaning the river had been taken up by the Shillong Municipal Board since 2019 but the same could not continue on account of Covid-19 pandemic.”
During that period, besides the physical cleaning of the river, about 1.3 km. stretch of Wah Umkhrah was also fenced to prevent dumping of garbage into the river. A total of about 780 meters of fencing was also taken up at 12 garbage vulnerable points of Umshyrpi and at the major tributaries of the two rivers.