Nongblai, Nov. 22: Nongblai village in East Khasi hills district is another Mawlynnong in the making.

Nongblai, under Raid Nongblai, is known as Living Roots Heritage Village with 16 living root bridges within the village. Among the 16, the longest one is 50m.

After travelling 45km by car from Shillong to Wahlyngkhat village on the Shillong-Dawki road, it takes at least one hour to get to Nongblai on foot. Coming back from the village to Wahlyngkhat takes about two hours because it is a climb up a steep path.

The village is now preparing to compete with Mawlynnong, known as the "cleanest village in Asia", in ensuring cleanliness in the village.

Authorities of the village, along with the Living Roots Ecotourism Society, have resolved to develop Nongblai as one of the attractive ecotourism hotspots and "trekking paradises", especially for lovers of adventure sport.

"If Mawlynnong village can be clean, so can Nongblai. With 16 living roots bridges, we have more to offer to the visitors. We will put all our effort to make our village clean. We will also add more attractions to the bridges," said Nokot Khriam, the head of Raid Nongblai.

Khriam, 74, said maintaining cleanliness was important, especially doing away with plastic.

"God has given us so much natural beauty and we need to protect our mother earth," Khriam said.

Surrounded by hills from all sides, one has to travel a long way to reach a road.

"Our people have a dream that one day the village will be connected by road. We do not know when our dreams will materialise, but we have hope," Khriam said.

The village with 55 households has a lower and an upper primary school. People of Nongblai earn their living by cultivating various horticultural crops, including tapioca and banana, and the village is famous for producing oranges, honey, pepper, bay leaf, betel leaf and other fruits.

In the absence of a road, people have to walk to and from Wahlyngkhat with these goods.

Not only goods, sick people have to be carried in a chair either to Pynursla or Shillong.

Living Roots Ecotourism Society president Ian Khongmen said the location of villages in the Riwar areas of the Khasi and Jaintia hills of Meghalaya were fit for adventure sport.

"Nongblai has the potential both for eco-tourism and adventure sport and we are working towards projecting Nongblai as a trekking paradise," Khongmen said.

Nongblai village has all the resources that would help uplift the economy of the people and road connectivity is the need of the hour for the village and the people to prosper.