Baghmara, April 26: Shocking scenes of destruction of two important rivers in South Garo Hills have begun surfacing forcing Garo organizations to raise a strong protest against the environmental destruction taking place.
The culprit is the NHIDCL road construction company which has been undertaking the state highway project connecting Baghmara in South Garo Hills to Ranikor in South West Khasi Hills that was allotted the project by the government.
The forcible extraction of sand from the Mahadeo river has laid waste to large portions of the river bed and destroyed aquatic life.
At the same time, the company has been dumping earth and soil removed during road expansion into the Kanai river which has blocked the flow at several places causing a diversion of the water flow further destroying life in the river.
In view of the extraction of sand and dumping of soil into the river, fish breeding grounds and sanctuaries that have been nurtured for generations by the people of the area who depend on it for their livelihood are now staring at its destruction.
Angry and shocked with the manner in which developmental projects are being taken up at the cost and destruction of the environment, protests are beginning to show up against the government’s lack of scrutiny to projects that are damaging the environment in a region like south Garo Hills which has the largest forest cover in the region.
Peeved with the damages being caused by the construction firm, the A’chik Youth Welfare Organization lodged an official protest before deputy commissioner of South Garo Hills in Baghmara on Wednesday demanding an immediate halt to the destruction of the two important rivers of South Garo Hills.
The organization protested that both the rivers are being damaged because of sand extraction and dumping of removed earth from hillocks cut for road expansion.
“The Kanai River is blocked due to dumping of earth by the construction company and is changing the course of the river which will be catastrophic for the entire region,” warns AYWO president Benitto M Sangma.
To make matters worse, the NHIDCL company is extracting tonnes of sand from the Mahadeo river basin for the road construction causing a major environmental disaster of the river.
With environmental damages galore and no checks in place, the AYWO is demanding stern action to end the extraction of the natural resources which is a lifeline for the people of South Garo Hills.
