The Committee on Environment of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly will visit Lukha river in East Jaintia Hills tomorrow to ascertain the cause of discolouration of the river.
According to sources, chairman of the committee and Mawphlang MLA Syntar Klas Sunn will lead the delegation during this first visit by the committee to the river.
It may be mentioned that Lukha river has turned blue every winter since 2007 leading to the death of hundreds of fishes.
There were allegations that cement factories in Lumshnong area were responsible for this phenomenon.
The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) Narpuh Circle while expressing concern over this repeated discolouration of Lukha river has recently demanded an independent inquiry in order to find out the facts of the matter.
Recently, the East Jaintia Hills district administration has announced a Rs 2.5 crore project for rejuvenation of Lukha river. The amount was sanctioned from the District Mineral Foundation Trust.
Delhi-based Trinity Impex International has been entrusted with the pilot project of treating the water at the river and improves its pH value through use of micro-green algae.
The East Jaintia Hills district administration has earlier said that a survey conducted by Water Resources Department showed that the water from Sakhaiñ and other upstream areas has been affected by high levels of acidity due to coal mining.
The Lukha is located in the southern part of east Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya. It receives water from the Lunar river and small streams while flowing down. The river passes via the Sonapur village and then into the Surma valley and ultimately ends up in the plains of Bangladesh.
