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JAIÑTIA HILLS THE LAND OF DEAD RIVERS
By H.H. Mohrmen
PEOPLE MAY FIND it hard to be believe, but the sad fact is staring us in the face- Most of the rivers in the Jaintia Hills district are dead rivers. Dead in the sense that these rivers are polluted to such as extent that no animate being can live in the waters of these rives. The water of many rivers in the Jaintia Hills district may look harmless to the aquatic life in the rivers. Jaintia hills is one of the major districts of Meghalaya, it lies between East Longitude 91.59 to 94.45 degrees and North latitude of 24.58 degrees to 25.45 degrees.
It borders Assam on the north and east, Bangladesh to the south and East Khasi hills to the west. The District which lies at the eastern most part of Meghalaya was created on 22 February 1972. The district is very much rich in natural resources the prominent of these being coal and limestone and mining of these minerals is done in a haphazard manner without even a slight consideration of the harm that it can do to the environment. Haphazard and unscientific coal mining which began a little over two decades ago in a village called Wapung, has now spread to areas like Sohkymphor, khliehriat, Moosiang-Lamare, Sutnga, Rymbai, Byrwai, Jarain, Chyrmang, Sutnga etc. All the rivers, streams and rivulets flowing from the coal mining areas are dead. In fact unscientific coal mining is the root cause that contributes to the pollution of water bodies in the area. All major rivers in the district which include the river Kupli, Myntdu, Umiurem, Waikhyrwi, Thlumuwi, Lukha and many more are now rivers without any aquatic life whatsoever.
