SHILLONG: Residents of Mawkyrwat, headquarters of new South West Khasi Hills district, are concerned that river Sala, the only source of potable drinking water for them, might be contaminated in the wake of fresh wave of urbanisation.

The locals want that prior care should be taken so that river pollution does not become a hazardous issue for the posterity. The alert citizens from all walks of life yesterday urged the district administration to “protect” the catchment area along the river Sala so that it did not turn into another Umkhrah river, flowing through Shillong