CoE directs closure of JNV school, Mawphlang till STP is made functional

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaJune 26, 2019

SHILLONG: The state Assembly’s Committee on Environment has directed closure of the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV), Mawphlang until the sewage treatment plant is made functional by the school authority. 

This came after the committee headed by Mawphlang legislator SK Sunn found out that the school has been discharging untreated sewage water directly to the river during an inspection conducted on Tuesday. 

Subsequently, the officials of the JNV in Shillong were also summoned by the committee on environment during its sitting held here on Wednesday. 

“We have told them (JNV officials) that until and unless the sewage treatment plant is made functional they will have to continue giving their students holiday. They have assured us that they will do it at the earliest possible,” Sunn told reporters after the meeting. 

Mawsynram legislator Himalaya M Shangpliang said the school has been asked to immediately close down as it is a serious health concern of all the people living downstream because all the sewage is flowing into the small streams which leads to the Mawphlang dam. 

The committee has also directed the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department to also come up with an action plan on sludge management from the water treatment plant of the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme (GSWSS). 

According to Umroi legislator George B Lyngdoh, the sludge, which is an output of the water treatment plant, which is being let out or released to the neighboring streams is an environmental concerned. 

“We have directed the department that it should come out with an action plan and to ensure this gets executed at the earliest not only for the water treatment plant at Mawphlang but for all the water treatment plants across the state,” Lyngdoh said.