Shillong, May 22: Power Minister AT Mondal on Thursday said the Meghalaya Power Generation Corporation (MePGCL) is on the job to clear the tons of garbage floating and polluting the Ganol River following heavy rain to prevent it from affecting the power project.

Speaking to media persons, Mondal said, “It is not only an eye sore but it is also dangerous for the generation and safety of the Ganol Dam as this (garbage) may create trouble for the project also. It may percolate down to the power house and create problems to our machineries. Therefore, we need to immediately remove the garbage (which has found its way to the Ganol River).”

He clarified that the present incident of garbage floating on the Ganol River is not new. “When heavy rain is there, the rain water from neighbouring areas would carry debris and garbage accumulated in the nearby market, home stays, picnic spots etc to the Ganol River,” he informed.

Stating that this is a serious issue, the power minister said, “I am in constant touch with the Deputy Commissioner and I have instructed to take remedial measures. Accordingly, the DC has visited the site yesterday and tomorrow he is sending the BDO to sensitize the people in the upstream including the home stays, markets (not to haphazardly dump their garbage). We have to monitor this continuously, otherwise it will repeatedly happen whenever it rains and they will carry all the garbage to the river.”

Mondal further mentioned that clearing of debris and garbage from the river will begin on Friday. “They (MePGCL) have brought in experts to the site and by tomorrow morning, they will start cleaning the river,” he said.

Further, the minister shared that the issue has also been taken up with the Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma. “I had a word with the CM and he also agreed that we should have some kind of mechanism through which we can prevent such a situation from recurring,” he said.

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