Shillong: Meghalaya has created a separate water resources department, chief minister D.D. Lapang announced on Thursday.
“The new department has been created with immediate effect. It will be linked to some other departments like agriculture, power, PHE and soil conservation,” Lapang said after a Cabinet meeting.
Earlier, the Union minister of state for water resources and Shillong parliamentarian Vincent Pala had prioritized the creation of the department in order to get the maximum advantage from his ministry.
The state can now send proposals to the Centre to clean up its dead rivers, especially in the coal belts of Jaintia Hills, an official said.
The Union ministry of water resources has earmarked Rs1,000 crore for the cleaning of rivers and other sources of water.