1391 water harvesting structures constructed in over 3000 ha of land in Meghalaya: Ampareen

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMarch 19, 2025

Over 1391 water harvesting structures have been constructed over 3000 hectares of land across the state under the New Generation Watershed Development Project of WDC-PMKSY 2.0.

This was informed by the Minister in-charge Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Ampareen Lyngdoh while addressing at the Watershed Yatra Awareness cum sale of products of Self Help Groups (SHGs) organized by the Meghalaya State Watershed & Wasteland Development Agency under the Directorate of Soil & Water Conservation, Meghalaya at the state central library on Wednesday.

Lyngdoh informed that not less than 1200 SHGs are engaged in the implementation of the WDC-PMKSY 2.0 programme across the state.

“This investment in community participation has yielded positive results. Today, we are able to reclaim barren land and reuse it, improving soil quality, improving nutritional value of our soil so that farmers may gainfully build on a farming practice which will sustain their livelihoods,” she said adding “We have constructed 1391 water harvesting structures of 3000 hectares and this will be a lifeline for so many communities that are facing this acute water scarcity during the lean period.”

Stating that today’s climate change, deforestation, land degradation, urbanisation and pollution posed the greatest threat to our water security, the minister said that these factors are not just causing scarcity but also affecting water quality leading to health risks and agricultural losses.

“The situation is further worsened by the fact that 17 percent of Meghalaya’s soil is degraded as per the Indian Wasteland Atlas. Soil degradation reduces water retention capacity which directly impacts agriculture and water recharge,” she added.

She also mentioned that the state is faced with plant diseases which have far reaching consequences and said, “Just recently we discussed the bud rot disease in the floor of the Assembly trying to negotiate with MLAs from 60 constituencies to engage with them so that they may promote this kind of a watershed activity which is very important for the state to conserve its water.”

Further, the minister stressed on the importance of managing the water and conserving it for use by the community.

The minister informed that the watershed yatra is a symbol of the government’s commitment to reach every district in the state.

“We need to educate the communities around us so that they will protect in the interest of everyone, the water that we received. We also have to make sure that we engage in infrastructure building, we engage with the community, we give them tools, we teach them various procedures so that all of these conservation will enable us to maintain the green coverage across the state, which is so important especially in the debates of climate change,” she stated.