Shillong July 26: Parents of students studying at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV), Mawphlang, on Friday sought the intervention of the state government in view of the closing down of the school due to non functional of a sewage treatment plant.
The school was to reopen on July 1 after summer vacation, but remained closed till date after the Meghalaya Assembly committee on environment asked for shutting down of the school on June 26.
The committee, headed by Mawphlang MLA (Independent) S.K. Sun, found that the entire sewerage of the school was being discharged into a stream that flows down to Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme reservoir at Mawphlang, that supplies drinking water to Shillong and its suburbs.
Parents of the students came to the secretariat and held a meeting with state planning board chairman, Lambor Malngiang and urged the state government to intervene since the closure of the school has affected their children.
The JNV Mawphlang has around 400 students.
Malngiang said that after discussing with the parents, a meeting will be held with the regional director of JNV, officials of the public health engineering, and Central PWD on August 2.
“The sewerage treatment plant of the school should be made functional immediately as the closure of the school will affect the future of students,” Malngiang said, adding that within August, the school should be re-opened.
Malngiang expressed concern over the delay to install the treatment plant and said that the school and the CPWD should take the responsibility.
“Closure of the school and non functional of the sewerage treatment plant are matters of concern since the closing down of the school affects the students and the absence of the sewerage treatment plant affects the water supply project as we need clean drinking water,” Malngiang stated.