Umiam Lake. A Telegraph picture

Shillong, Aug. 13: In 1930, American physicist and Nobel Prize winner Robert Millikan said there was no risk that humanity could do real harm to anything so gigantic as the Earth.

Poor Millikan, if he had only seen the sullied Umiam Lake, he would have wished his words were never archived as a quotable quote.

Thankfully, Shillong MP and Union minister of state for water resources Vincent Pala has woken up to Umiam’s waning beauty, and has drawn up a plan to give the tourist attraction a much needed facelift.

Situated around 15km from the capital, the sprawling Umiam falls in Ri Bhoi district but for the people of the state, it is an extension of Shillong.

Over the years, Umiam Lake — also known as Barapani — has become a dumping ground for the capital’s waste, leading to high levels of pollution.

Pala said he, along with the state soil and water conservation minister R.C. Laloo, met Union minister for environment and forest Jairam Ramesh in Delhi to discuss ways and means to clean the lake.

“Ramesh will be visiting Shillong soon to inspect the lake and also for a detailed discussion on how to maintain its ecology,” Pala said.

The Umiam reservoir was constructed in 1965 to store water for generating electricity.

Though the lake was mainly used for power generation, it gradually became a major tourist attraction, with thousands gathering for kayaking, water cycling, scooting and boating.

“Our intention is to save Umiam Lake from environment pollution and also make it more pleasant to the eyes of visitors,” Pala said.

An earlier study of the Central Pollution Control Board had revealed that the major rivers in Shillong — Umkrah and Umshyrp — which carry huge amounts of sewage, contaminate the lake.

Studies have also shown that around 40,000 cubic metres of silt flow into Umiam annually because of blockage of natural drainage systems, unscientific mining, upstream encroachments and deforestation.

In 2001, the state government constituted a task force, which consisted of members from various state government departments to examine all aspects related to siltation and pollution of Umiam.

But the project did not make much headway.

This time, Pala hopes to see the project through.