SHILLONG:
The Meghalaya High Court has directed the state and the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) to work in tandem and ensure that Shillong look “spick and span”.
The two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice W Diengdoh, while disposing of a PIL which seeks to ensure a degree of cleanliness and hygienic condition in and around Shillong, said, “It is hoped that the state and the Shillong Municipal Board work in tandem and ensure that all parts of Shillong look spick and span as the areas under the supervision of the Cantonment Board.”
The court also said that the state and the SMB have taken certain measures and the Cantonment Board has also been roped in for the purpose.
The court, however, asserted that “it is best that awareness campaigns, in attractive packages, are conducted in schools, particularly government schools and which children from the less privileged sections of the society can attend.”
In particular, waterbodies in and around the city, including the river Umkhrah, the several waterfalls and places around the same need to be protected, kept clean and the use of plastics, bottles and tetra packs around such places regulated or prohibited, it added.
The court also directed the concerning authorities not to drop their guard since any spirited individual may initiate further proceedings if the cleanliness drive that was a result of the present proceedings is on the wane.