SHILLONG:
Secretary of the Harijan Panchayat Committee, Gurjeet Singh, on April 4, said that none of the 342 families settled at Them Iew Mawlong are illegal, and the committee will likely reply to the government by April 10 on the relocation blueprint.
“Deputy CM Prestone Tynsong had said that none of the 342 settlers at Harijan colony as per the 2008 survey are illegal, and now also there are the same number of families residing here, so there is no question of illegal settlement,” Singh told media persons in the city.
Stating that the issue of relocation is a big issue and involves the lives of many people, Singh maintained that the issue requires a lot of deliberations and discussions.
“We have just got the blueprint now, there are several areas that will be looked into after that, such as fund allocation, dismantling of all structures, reconstruction of newer ones. So, this is not a work of a day or two as the issue is still pending in the High Court,” he said.
Deliberating on the blueprint, Singh said that the blueprint given by the government seems satisfactory till now and HPC experts are studying it.
Asked if the relocation site is suitable for the residents, Singh said that their experts after studying the blueprint will lay down the pros and cons of the government’s proposal, following which they will take a decision.