Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma Holds Meeting To Keep Shillong, Umiam Lake Clean
SHILLONG: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday had a meeting with officials of different line departments and civil organizations to discuss and chalk out ways and measures to ensure cleanliness in and around Shillong city and clean the Umiam Lake.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said that the involvement of various departments is important to meet the objective of keeping Shillong clean.
“While there is a need of behavioural change from everyone and active public participation, the local bodies and institutions can play a major role in the enforcement of laws, monitoring and spreading the message of cleanliness and waste management,” he said.
He also said that the aim of having a clean Shillong would be met more aggressively after the approval of the ‘Action Plan’ by the Central Pollution Board.
On the other hand, Conrad touched on the steps needed to be taken to clean Umiam Lake.
“The recent picture of Umiam Lake that has been doing the rounds in social media is a matter of grave environmental concern and an eye sore,” said the Chief Minister. He said that short term and long term measures have to be found to clean Umiam Lake.
The Chief Minister suggested that a committee be formed comprising members from the Forest, district administration, MeECL, Shillong Municipal Board, District Council and Water Resources to work out mechanisms to clean the lake.
“While the government will definitely look into long term measures to clean Umiam Lake, it is urgently required to stop further waste being dumped into the lake,” he said.
Meanwhile officials have clarified that the picture in social media is an old picture. They said that nevertheless it is a wakeup call and measures have to be installed to clean the lake and prevent it from getting polluted further.