Shillong: Sohra is drying up. Once the wettest place on Earth, the town now suffers from a major rainfall deficit. Sohra MLA Gavin M. Mylliem blames human activity for the shift. He spoke Thursday at an international conference hosted by Shillong College. The event focused on sustainability and biodiversity.
Climate change is no longer a future threat. It hits home now. Residents face extreme heat, floods, and volatile weather. Mylliem, who chairs the Meghalaya Industrial Development Corporation, claims conservation and development must sync. He pointed to the Mawrah Multipurpose Reservoir as a success story. Opened in 2024, the site holds 528 million litres. It fuels aquaculture, tourism, and farming for nearby villages.
The state government is pushing its Green Meghalaya and Green Meghalaya Plus programs. These initiatives pay locals to protect forests for three decades. The goal is prevention over restoration. Officials have already covered 51,000 hectares of a planned 100,000-hectare target. Around 3,300 people have received a share of the Rs 77 crore disbursed through the 2025-26 fiscal year. Mylliem insists, "conservation is an investment, not an expense."
Shillong College organized the meet alongside the Meghalaya Biodiversity Board and the Zoological Survey of India. Speakers included keynote guest Bibhab Kumar Talukdar and NEHU Vice-Chancellor SK Barik. The college also honored Padma Shri awardee Hally War for his social work. Organizers closed the session by releasing a journal titled Echoes from the Hills.
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