The problem

In another city in the north east of India, Shillong, we are supporting the development of a project to clean up an extremely polluted stretch of the Wah-Umkrah River. This city has no sanitation treatment, and all the sewage from the town flows into the river, along with most of the garbage and factory pollution.

Current Activity

Blacksmith supported a local NGO committed to river cleanup, NEEDS, to lead a committee of local headmen, the Shillong municipal government, the Directorate of Urban Affairs, and the Shillong Pollution Control Board to develop a waste management strategy for Shillong. Mr. Fuller attended the inaugural meeting of this committee during his visit in January, 2004. The municipality and local leaders have agreed to set up committees to arrange the expansion of garbage pick-up to outlying parts of the city. A campaign to educate the public on solid waste management issues and river pollution was successfully undertaken and a composting shed constructed at Demseiniong to efficiently manage organic waste.

The overall goal is to implement small-scale initiatives and develop proposals to multilateral donors for large-scale remediation. There is a Polluted Places dossier available on this site, with additional information on pollutants and partners in this project.