Shillong, July 21: In a major overhaul of urban water supply management, the state government is planning to create a single authority with an aim at ending jurisdictional overlaps among different authorities.
Announcing this on Tuesday, Public Health Engineering Minister Marcuise N Marak said multiple agencies are currently handling water supply systems in Shillong and Tura among other municipalities in the state.
This often leads to delays and confusion when citizens report issues such as leakages.
The PHE department currently supplies water in bulk to the Shillong Municipal Board and the Shillong Cantonment Board, which then distribute it to households.
“When a complaint comes, PHE officers examine it and later report that it is not their jurisdiction but that of the Municipal Board or Cantonment Board. This creates a lot of challenges in addressing problems,” the minister said.
To address this, the department is working on “one mechanism, one platform, one authority” to handle the entire water supply for Shillong city and its agglomeration.
“We thought of bringing up one mechanism, one platform, one authority where all these will be resolved at one go and we can go for a total reformation for the entire Shillong city and for the entire Shillong agglomeration,” the minister said.
He announced a similar model is proposed for Tura, where both PHE and GHADC are involved in supply.
“We will consult stakeholders. Only after consultation will we go ahead. So it will take some more time,” Marak added, noting that the reform aims to ensure faster grievance redressal and better accountability.
Consultation with stakeholders on ‘Jal Board’
Meanwhile, Marak said, the government has begun stakeholder consultations for the proposed Shillong Drinking Water and Sewerage Board.
Terming the first round of consultative meeting with different stakeholders on Monday “very positive,” the minister said they discussed the draft Shillong Drinking Water and Sewerage Act, 2026, referred to as the “Jal Board.”
The meeting was attended by officials from PHE, Urban Affairs, Shillong Municipal Board, and headmen from across Shillong agglomeration.
“We have already drafted the Act. We are consulting with all stakeholders and only after that we will be moving forward,” he said.
According to the minister, the rangbah shnongs welcomed the proposal.
“The headmen were all very happy. They expressed very positively. We presented to them the draft, how it will work, and the administrative reforms proposed,” Marak said.
The next steps, he added, include further consultations with senior leaders, the Deputy Chief Minister and Chief Minister, followed by Cabinet approval and tabling in the Assembly.
‘Jal Utsav’ in every village for 6 months
PHE Minister Marcuise N Marak on Tuesday informed that ‘Jal Utsav’ will be organised in every village under Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0 to spread the message on water conservation.
The campaign launched on Monday will be guided by three principles: celebrate, understand and protect.
Meanwhile, the six-month campaign aims to involve SHGs and rangbah shnong in efforts to protect water sources.
“It is about celebrating water, securing sources, with three principles – celebrate, understand and protect. We want to bring awareness to stakeholders at the village level,” he said.
On drying up of springs and rivers, Marak said the problem is global.
“Drying sources is a common challenge which the entire country and globe is facing. The government has already started several interventions to protect and rejuvenate these sources. Several projects are working on that,” he said.
