SHILLONG:
Around 50 wooden shops located along the Shillong-Banuin Road at Upper Shillong were evicted by the Forest Department around 5.30 am on May 22, for alleged illegal construction along the highway.
It was informed that none of the shop owners were informed about the eviction drive, except for eight shops. Heavy machineries like the JCB were deployed to remove these shops, most wooden in structure.
In their attempt to stop the drive, shop owners approached the police personnel and the magistrate but to no avail.
Condemning the act, shop owners demanded compensation from the government and asked why the drive was carrying out now. “They could have removed us from the start. Why now when it has already been months,” one of the shop owners said.
Some of them claimed that the damage done has reached lakhs and demanded that the government should compensate for their losses.
It was further alleged that the shops were purposely constructed along this stretch of the highway as a sign of protest against the non-payment of compensation to the land owners for the implementation of the Shillong-Dawki Road project.
WATCH: