A view of Umkhen river

Shillong, March 13: The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU), Mawryngkneng circle, has inspired 23 villages of East Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Ri Bhoi districts to convert stretches of the Umkhen river into fish conservation areas and sanctuaries.

On Saturday, the union organised a meeting at Thadrang village in Ri Bhoi district, close to the Assam-Meghalaya border. Thadrang, ahead of Mawlasnai village, is around 100km from here.

Among others, the sordar (traditional head) of Raid Thadrang, Shalan Khongjoh, KSU Mawryngkneng circle president Wanlambok Kharsati, Meghalaya fisheries department official T. Mynsong and the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council member from Nartiang constituency, Thom Shiwat, attended the meeting.

It was decided that the stretch from Saidong to Skha Myndon on the Umkhen would be identified as a fish conservation area.

Moreover, Kharsati suggested that the Thwei Patung on the Umkhen could be converted into a fish sanctuary, which would not only help in raising the economic activity of the people, but also attract tourists.

Reacting to the suggestion, Khongjoh said a decision to convert Thwei Patung into a fish sanctuary would be taken by the village committee.

It was decided that from now on, stringent punishment would be handed to those indulging in activities that affect aquatic life and rivers.

A fine of Rs 50,000 will be imposed on anyone caught throwing poisonous substances into the river.

The meeting also resolved to constitute the Khasi-Jaintia-Ri Bhoi Border Fish Protection Committee with Khongjoh as president, Edwin Challam of Bamkamar village in Jaintia Hills as vice-president, Super Rngaid of Mynriang village in East Khasi Hills as general secretary while traditional heads of the 23 villages would be its members.

The 23 villages include Khyndewso, Thadrang Lum, Thadrang Them, Madan Umwang, Khlieh Umwang, Bamkamar and Mynriang.

The KSU Mawryngkneng had also initiated the Save Fish, Save River campaign with a focus on reviving those rivers which have become polluted like the Lukha in Jaintia Hills.

The union had last year alleged that it was the pollutants emerging out of the cement plants in Jaintia Hills that had led to the contamination of the Lukha, thereby making aquatic life unfeasible to survive.

Separately, the Environment Protection Cell of the KSU today petitioned the Meghalaya forests and environment minister Prestone Tynsong on the disposal of fly ash along the roadside of national highways 40 and 44.

“It has been brought to our knowledge that the fly ash is meant as raw material for manufacture of cement from the cement factories, but the big question is how this material ended being dumped on the roadside,” cell chairman Joe Joplin Marbaniang said in a letter to Tynsong.

He also said the disposal of fly ash causes serious health hazards both to humans and the environment.

“We know that fly ash is one of the numerous substances that causes air, water and soil pollution and even disrupt the ecological cycle. The environment protection cell wonders why the government is allowing trucks to dump this dangerous material by the roadside,” Marbaniang added.

While urging the government to take stern action against the dumping of fly ash, the KSU also warned that if the administration failed to act, the union would take its own course of action.