The Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) issued a warning to households under its jurisdiction not to dispose of solid waste or untreated sewage into streams and drains that lead into the Wahumkhrah and Umshyrpi rivers.
In a public notice, the SMB said that “most” households in Shillong “are in the habit of doing exactly what it warned again. Such improper disposal of waste results in “contamination of the water bodies and causing harmful diseases.”
These acts are in violation of the Meghalaya Municipal Act 1973, the Meghalaya Solid Waste Management Bye Laws 2020 and the Implementation of Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013.
The SMB urged citizens to segregate and store waste in biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste in suitable bins and hand over these to waste collectors authorised by the SMB. The public were also told not to throw, burn or bury solid waste in streets, open public spaces, drains or water bodies; and not to discharge untreated sewage directly into drains and water bodies.
Anyone found in violation of any of these rules will be penalised as per the law under the ‘Polluters Pay Principle’ and may be included as co-respondents before the National Green Tribunal.
