Scientists in the Public Health Engineering Department and government consultants have lacked common sense when it comes to implementing measures to see that the reservoir at Mawphlang Dam, which provides much of the piped water supply to Shillong, is full year-round.
Retired forest officer Gregory F Shullai said that those illiterate in science are actually the ones who had more common sense in calling for the area around Mawphlang Dam to be designated as a catchment area.
The water level in the reservoir is significantly low due to the dry weather spell and hot temperatures being experienced.
“Common sense appears to be the monopoly of those illiterate in the sciences and they are the ones who have been making a hue and cry that a catchment area must be declared if the Mawphlang reservoir is ever to retain water all year round,” Shullai said. “But their hue and cry falls on deaf ears.”
All the calculations put forth by the experts, however, have “fallen flat”.
“We are not thinking and using the resources we have. Instead, we are trying to provide for the things we lack through complex formulae and designs,” Shullai said, adding that such a state of affairs prevails in Meghalaya, which leads to many problems being solved on paper but being far from a solution in the real world.
“In solving our water problems, we need to think critically and independently and ask the right questions. Then only can we come out with a lasting solution. And we are not doing that,” he stated. “We must not ignore the fact that we are a water-deficient society and, consequently, very much in need of sources from which we can tap this indispensable commodity.”
