Nagaland forms team to remove plastics from Doyang River

Kohima: Nagaland's chief secretary J Alam on Friday announced a mission to clear debris and solid waste collected in the upstream Doyang river bed. The initiative officially kickstarted on Saturday.

Alam chaired an emergency meeting in the Civil Secretariat, Kohima to address the serious environmental hazards caused by poor and improper waste disposal in the upstream of Doyang Dam reservoir in Wokha district. He stressed that the mission should be carried out with close coordination with the district administration and concerned departments.

Wokha's deputy commissioner (DC) has been asked to convene a meeting with stakeholders and conduct an immediate field assessment upstream of the dam to assess its quality and submit an incident action plan. Alam has also urged initiating a mission mode of cleaning the debris at Doyang Dam within a week and maintaining proper documentation records. 

"The exercise must involve various departments, fishermen, local villagers, NGOs, etc", the Nagaland official has noted.

The Wokha DC Ajit Kumar Ranjan attended the meeting through video conference and stated that floating solid wastes, mostly plastics, have accumulated and piled up at the banks of Doyang Dam lake. "The operation of Doyang Dam is unaffected by the deposition of wastes, but it has harmed aquatic life and ecology and degraded the aesthetics of tourist sites at the Doyang Dam lake", he said.

NEEPCO and state nodal officer, Er. John Zeliang, also attended the meeting, stating that the debris was washed down to the Doyang Dam due to heavy rains in May. Zeliang suggested that it was crucial to locate and collect the gathered debris before it was dispersed and disposed of properly. NEEPCO will reimburse the expenditure incurred by the concerned state government agency.

Meanwhile, the Wokha administration has formed an area team to clean and remove plastic waste at Doyang Lake. Key officials and a representative of the NEEPCO will assess solid waste pollution spots, assess resources and machinery needed for cleaning, identify waste collection sites, and submit an action plan.

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