Meghalaya Accelerates Efforts to Revitalize Key Springsheds for Sustainable Water Management

CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG: Meghalaya is intensifying its water conservation efforts by focusing on rejuvenating its critical springsheds. The state has identified approximately 70,000 springsheds, with 55,000 already mapped, and ongoing efforts to restore them. Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma revealed that water-related projects worth over Rs 4,000 crore are currently being implemented in the state.

Sangma while replying to a query in the assembly stated that a study has found that 792 out of the 55,000 mapped springsheds are in a very critical phase as water are completely dried up and these are providing water sources to projects under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM). Accordingly, the soil and water conservation has come up with a Rs 32 crore project and 67 springshed will be rejuvenated at a war footing in order to bring back life to these springs.

Over the past five years, 1,601 springsheds have been constructed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) at a cost of Rs 46.62 crore, with Sangma calling them "success stories." He noted that Village Employment Councils (VECs) and local communities are actively involved in monitoring and maintaining these assets. According to him, the process of ensuring the springshed are rejuvenated and maintained is an ongoing process.

“Today with the availability of technologies, we are able to monitor the level of water in the springs and almost 13000 volunteers (VCFs), are trained to monitor (and report) so that we can taken necessary steps (and multiple interventions for springshed rejuvenation),” he said.

The CM informed that a 62 million dollar project under the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to rejuvenate springshed and construction of 532 structures will also be implemented.

Stating that Meghalaya is one of the few states that has a water policy, Sangma said more than Rs 4000 crore worth projects are water related projects.

“It is very critical as government to look at water as a holistic problem and hence we have a climate council headed by the CM and all water related departments for the first time are talking to each other (for rejuvenating the water bodies in the state),” he said.

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