Shillong: Senior Congress legislator Dr. Mazel Ampareen Lyngdoh on Friday displayed “a bottle of turbid water” supplied by the Public Health Engineering Department to the residents of Shillong city in the Meghalaya assembly and asked when the residents would get clean drinking water.
Not only that, the senior opposition Congress legislator also displayed photographs of contaminated water from gravity main greater Shillong water supply scheme and Umkhen source that supplies water to Malki, Nongthymmai, Pohkseh and other adjoining area and sought answers from the minister as to why these were unclean.
“If we don’t die of Covid we may die from cholera,” Lyngdoh stated even as she informed the House that the “turbid water” was collected from the tap at her residence.
However, Public Health Engineering Minister Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar clarified that the turbidity of the water was because the new pipeline of 1000 mm dia which was laid long time ago and the pipes has collected soil.
“The department has gone back to distributing water through the old 750 mm pipe, but it has burst and is being repaired,” he said, adding that efforts are on to supply clean drinking water to the residents of the state capital and urged the denizens to bear with the inconvenience for the time being.
Tongkhar said Umkhen Water supply is out of order and the repair work would cost the department Rs. 13.2 crore and that endeavour was on to get the fund so that water could be supplied form the project.
“All efforts are being put in so that residents get safe and clean drinking water including. commissioning of the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme (GSWSS) Phase- 3,” the minister said, adding that work is on to complete this important project and hopefully by the end of this fiscal the project would be commissioned.
Denying that there was acute shortage of water, the minister said the water that was being supplied at the moment was adequate.
Tongkhar also informed that the state capital requires 9.20 million gallon of water per day, even as his department was taking all possible measures to meet the demand.
