Editor,
Shi hajar nguh, a thousand most courteous bows to the right and to the left as I congratulate you on the timely post concerning the deforestation along the southern hills of Shillong city.
Now I can see with my mind’s eye that there are many who shake and tremble in fear in a most peculiar manner at the thought of the deforestation of the most important catchment area of Shillong city. This is indeed a most wonderful thing to know that there are more than just a few individuals who share the same concern at the alarming sight of the number of trees that have been lost from the Lumparing village forest, but we do not blame anyone in particular for this happening – it is a social malady and society is to blame for what we are seeing and it is society’s responsibility to try and stop any further damage. Your article on the matter has given us the much-needed opportunity to air our views on why the area is important to us as a forest and suggest solutions so that the area is saved…no not only the area but Shillong itself is saved from total annihilation.
Of course, only a mature reflection on the “why and what” needs to be done is of paramount importance as this is a serious matter…a matter of life and death one might add, given the welfare factors that the forest freely affords to the people of Shillong. There is a great ladder of natural cruelty with many rungs that we humans have created against nature but two or three are the most important. At one time trees and forests were of no importance and we cut them down indiscriminately, especially the ones that looked like the best without a thought of what we were doing to ourselves. But now that the moral and the scientific epoch of society has dawned, one is thoughtful of felling a tree or trees especially if there are factors that the trees influence which only they provide to society and so we restrict the instincts we possess and sacrifice our selfish wants in the greater good of society.
Every man in society must test himself to see whether he is destined for heeding natures’ commands and he must do so at the proper time. Men and women must not avoid answering penetrating questions that nature asks although they are the most dangerous questions that have only a single answer, and are in the end tests which are taken before ourselves and before no other judge. We must not think ourselves to be virtuous when we take these tests because by doing so, we become a victim of some part of us – of our greed, or security, etc. which is the danger of dangers for the rich and the famous who expend themselves prodigally, almost indifferently, and take the virtue of liberty to the point where it becomes a vice. As individuals we must learn how to conserve ourselves…this is the sternest test of independence.
A new group of citizens have appeared in Shillong…citizens who understand that every stream or ‘wah’ that runs through the city finds its source in this catchment area. From the Wahumkhrah, the Umshyrpi, and the numerous tributaries (Umjasai, Wah Risa, Wah Kdait) that feed the two main streams, every one of them originates in this forest and if we remove the trees, we are basically removing the very factor that sustains life in Shillong … the source of good drinking water. Secondly, we divine the growth of Shillong as a sign of prosperity…the population, the number of cars, the number of houses, the malls, the roads that might rightly, but perhaps also wrongly signify development for with it comes pollution essentially air and water pollution and the only way to sequester air pollution cheaply is through trees as they use up the carbon dioxide for their growth and generate oxygen for us in return, and this forest on the southern boundary of Shillong provides any onlooker a perfect visual comparison of what it’s doing with the air quality every evening and morning. As to the water quality nothing needs to be said as the murky waters in the streams in town are so contrastingly different from the clear streams in the forest.
After all this does anyone need to say anymore on why the forests of the southern slopes of Shillong should be protected?
Gregory Shullai
Via e-mail
