PHED Minister Wangki Lowang has raised a very pertinent issue of the drying up of water sources in Arunachal Pradesh. In recent years, reports of drying up of drinking water sources due to rampant deforestation in the catchment areas have been reported from various parts of the state. Lowang has rightly pointed out that, if the water sources dry up, the people will not receive water supply throughout the year in their homes. The constant growth of human population is leading to settlements in new areas. This leads to large-scale deforestation, causing immense harm to the environment. The drying up of water sources is real and this issue needs to be addressed urgently.
The PHE&WS department will have to join hands with the department of environment, forest and climate change. Both the departments should together work out a plan to save the water sources. The involvement of the local community is also very vital. The villagers will feel motivated to conserve forests if they are made part of the campaign to save the water sources. As the first step, the government should put a ban on any kind of deforestation activities in the water source areas across the state. Stringent action should be taken if people fail to comply with the ban order.