The Kupli River should be restored and revived with money from the Meghalaya Environment Protection and Restoration Fund (MEPRF), local groups have said.
The Synjuk Waheh Shnong of Iooksi and Saphai and the Kupli unit of the Khasi Students Union said that the Kupli River is in a “pitiable condition”.
Forming part of a NEEPCO hydroelectric power plant, known as the Kopili Hydro Electric Project, the dammed river’s reservoir is partly located in Meghalaya.
The river itself is “in bad shape owing to pollution and the frequent death of aquatic life” as well as the change in the colour of the water, which is a major cause for concern of the people living along its banks.
The delegation met Forests and Environment Minister James PK Sangma and called for “urgent” steps by the state government for a long-term solution to the Kupli’s problems.
Pollution has hurt the river’s famous tourism image. In the past, the Ialei waterfall, rich in its own folklore, was also a big draw, though it was lost to the world once the dam was constructed. Despite this, there was still enough to bring in visitors with the Kupli providing livelihoods to all those who lived within its vicinity through tourism, fishing, river transport, etc.
Locals, either in their private capacity or through community projects, invested in tourism infrastructure but the pollution that plagues the Kupli now turns tourists away and has killed fishes.
The state government, through the Tourism Department has invested some Rs 11 crore in the Iooksi Kupli Park but, in order to make its investment profitable, they said, the administration must also invest in cleaning up the river.
They urged the minister to allocate funds from the Forests and Environment Department as well as the MEPRF for the “development and full rejuvenation” of the river, prevent further pollution and punish polluters.
