By Gregory Francis Shullai
Now that I can once more contemplate at close quarters on the teeming brood of Forest Officers and politicians who initiated the proposal and the implementation of the Ropeway Project that cuts through the Riat Laban/Upper Shillong Reserved Forests on the southern boundary of Shillong city, and from which many localities in the city get their drinking water supply, and now that I am obliged daily to observe the whole of their stiff upper lip attitude, the swollen guilty conscience writ large all over their faces, their half closed eyes, their now subdued rejoicing over the favours they indulged in to please their political bosses in proposing the project and even their captured worm that came as a reward for their unbridled favour at proposing the project and their indifference towards the true and obvious problems that the project would cause to the people in the localities that depended on it for their water supply, and remember that I can visualize what it is that goes on when a finger of suspicion is pointed at any officer in the Department – not only at the young brood of officers and field level functionaries, but also at their venerable seniors who pose with that all knowing attitude as if no one knows forestry better than them, I grow ever more clearly convinced that we who have retired from the Forest Department, and who still remain true to our forestry roots – the kind of men and women who having been born into forestry still display the futility of trying to remove the love of forests from them – will not be able to pursue their life task without commenting and offering comments on how and why the project must have been cleared. As to the implementation of any project in our forests, it has been a long time since anyone has been able with honesty to say anything to the credit of our government; this is the outcome of a mass of material of the failures that have called upon our attention.
When forestry and the man at the helm of affairs are not of one accord – not of the same piece, the whole Department, and under the circumstances the whole of Shillong, gapes in astonishment at the deeds that the leader indulges in, and the dedicated field and office staff grow angry and finally scratch, growl, and bite and openly criticize the actions that could have only been done out of a vested interest by some individuals. We are experiencing an example of this in what has taken place with the Ropeway Project in the Riat Laban/Upper Shillong Reserve Forest. For this, I am quite certain that some trick has been played in getting the project cleared by the State and the Central Government which normally would have nothing to do with the direction in which the Forest Department has approached this project. Clear felling of trees was unheard off after the Forest Conservation Act was enforced. If forests are to be protected in Meghalaya it is now more than evident that we the people must get up and raise our voices because we can no longer expect anything worthwhile to come from the men and women who run the affairs of forestry in the State – the ones who are meant to do the job for us. I am not directing any criticism at anybody in particular but at the low moral standards that the men and women charged with serving forestry in the State have fallen into, especially the well-paid members of the IFS – an All-India Service.
The people who depend on and live in the vicinity of these forests live in the constant fear that at any moment they will be given a foretaste of what it means to have the area deforested for there have been a number of attempts to cut a road through the forest from Shillong town to Laitkor to reduce traffic congestion in Shillong. Every proposal was strongly opposed by the residents from Risa Colony to Malki and even by Kong Deity Majaw Member of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council, and so for now it appears that the proposals are on hold, but we are not done with our vigil and constant caution because we are haunted by the suspicion of what awaits us in this infernal atmosphere. So long as a new road alignment from Shillong to Laitkor has nothing to do with felling trees or land cutting, we will continue to be suspicious in respect of any proposal for a new road, because it is now the norm to attach tree felling with every road construction proposal. Our environment is at stake…we must be on our guard. To be clear, we have even suggested a different alignment, one that would not attract any tree felling and deliver Shillong from its traffic woes and simultaneously reduce the travel time from Laitkor to Shillong by avoiding the dreaded “Saw Lad” at “Madan Ryting”. Basically, a simple proposal that cuts through the Fruit Garden Complex from the St Edmunds College gate to Motinagar, Mawblei and beyond. But, my friend, the judgments and decisions of our leaders have nothing to do with the solutions and suggestions to the problems that do not include the felling of trees. So, what else can be offered by us in overcoming the problem of traffic congestion in the Dhankheti sector in the first place?
Let me take you back a bit…remember the Tourist Centre proposed in the Riat Khwan Forest which was finally shelved? and the inexhaustible energy with which the people maintained their belief in themselves and the legacy they were handed down to stand up against the face of one proposal after another from the whole of the “political” world? Our men and women involved in that case confirmed once and for all that the people were the greatest and the best judges of what is good for the place and the present and posterity – not Government. From that experience we the people derived the consolation of knowing that however great the odds, the ordinary man and woman cannot be denied the right to their choice of how their lands should exist, and that regardless of status, the people understand what it means when any project makes a constant call on our doubts and fears. It must be understood that we relish cross examining the proposals particularly since cross examination acts as an antidote against the paralyzing skepticism of the hidden agenda in any Government proposal. We have observed enough as a community. We have come to realize that anything suggested by this Government has a hidden agenda and we must learn to see it from the point of view of a better option and stay deeply united in this matter because in the final analysis we must never forget to ensure that no matter what we do we must uphold our ancient traditions of respect for the gods of the rivers and the gods of the hills that our forefathers taught us to respect. In this alone will the future generations prosper.
Finally, for the elders who are involved in this fierce opposition to the Ropeway Project, nothing could be more regrettable than the fact that precisely at this moment, when they have just begun to look back on the life they have lived with a satisfaction that comes from knowing that they have conserved the rivers and forests in the Khasi Hills all these years – even fought against the attempt of the lessee to take over the Green Block of the Laitkor Peak Protected Forest (Compartment 5) in 1986 and got her to negotiate instead for an outright sale of the Green Block to the State Govt, to discover that the State Govt is more interested in changing the purpose of this forest from a water catchment area to a tourism attraction is as foul a play as foul can be. As for the men and women who have given their all to save the forest cover in those early days and succeeded, and who, having retired and tried out many livelihood support means: that they should discover that they are required to direct their antennae all over again to those that would destroy our forest cover instead of resting in the tranquility of a happy retired life is as mean as mean can get. It appears that now they have to join in the opposition to the projects formulated blindly by a government that is more interested in cutting trees. Their plan of study and behind it their own secret goal to which the remaining years of their life will be consecrated must continue on the same footing as it has always been, it is too hard to live quietly when every time the Government gives a damn to the protection of the States’ forests. It is unfair that the elders should be aroused to oppose Government’s action and to rise up and fight against the calamities that are being trained upon the people and the place – and against posterity. At this late stage in life depriving them of that ease to enjoy whatever time they still have in the cool and beautiful environs of the Khasi Hills and to instead arouse them to fight all over again for the preservation of these forests, is the greatest shame that any Government can earn. And in that respect, perhaps the fierceness of my comments is therefore justified.
It is a painful feeling of having to digest one’s hopes for the Khasi Hills in fear and trepidation because of the callous way in which the leaders are going about with the destruction of our natural assets instead of maintaining the beauty and the peacefulness that can be had in the forests and hills of the Khasi Hills. As a matter of fact, permit me to render a word of advice to our leaders that nothing could be more exhilarating than for them to go to the great outdoors every now and then and sit down together, as they used to do, and digest their bodily meals together under the cool cover of the pine trees and clear blue skies and symbolically drink their afternoon tea in company, and, from these get togethers glance into the past with the satisfaction at having kept old traditions alive. Oh, how lovely this image is!
It cannot be helped; I cannot express myself more plainly; it is evident that the water supply to the Kenches Trace areas will become critical in the coming months and it certainly won’t be solved of its own accord; very few know about where to search for another permanent water source these days, and that is why I am so eager in warning people against any scheme that Government implements in forest areas.
