Sohra and Mawsynram in Meghalaya receive the highest amount of rainfall in the world.
But despite this, many parts in the State face water security problems.
Mawphanlur is a village in West Khasi Hills known for the numerous crater lakes atop the hill but due to the inability of the community to harvest rainwater, the village faced problems with water availability.
Reports quoting Nicholson Jana, headman of Mawphanlur village stated that it is the school children that suffer the most as they have to walk long distances to fetch water in addition to travelling to schools.
This drudgery wastes a lot of time and also causes children to focus on other things apart from school work.
Meghalaya Basin Development Authority (MBDA) in partnership with Nagaland Empowerment of People through Energy Development (NEPeD) and GIZ came up with a comprehensive solution and gave the village a hydraulic ram pump.
Teiborlang, village secretary stated that the major benefit derived from the ram pump has been the easy availability of drinking water.
Secondly, the problems of washing and cleaning have been solved to a great extent.
“We can live a hygienic lifestyle, especially with clean toilets,” the village secretary was quoted as saying.
He also added that the first initiative was taken up by the village itself to bring water when they sought assistance from the State Government.
This led to the basin unit coming to the village and surveying the area for a feasible solution to be taken up.
The survey led to the decision to install a ram pump.
The ram pump was officially inaugurated on December 6, 2017 by the deputy commissioner of West Khasi Hills District Arun Kumar Kembhavi in the presence of officials from MBDA, NEPeD, GIZ and local residents.