Staff Reporter
SHILLONG:
West Shillong legislator, Mohendro Rapsang, on July 14, opposed the government’s move to relocate 342 families of Harijan Colony from Them Iew Mawlong to a plot of land near the RP Chest Hopistal, Mawbah even as Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) said that the government is scouting for lands in two-three other locations as well.
“We strongly oppose this move because the site chosen for the relocation is highly congested. Another colony at the site with so many families will only aggravate the problem,” said Rapsang.
The Congress MLA also added that another reason why he is against the move is the proximity of the proposed plot to the hospital as the location gets a lot of patients and the relocation will only congest the area and add to patients’ woes.
Rapsang also informed that he met the deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, who is heading the High-Level Committee facilitating the relocation, on the issue and on Thursday, said that he will be meeting him again. Meanwhile, the Dorbar Shnong, Mawbah, too has opposed the move of the government to shift the residents from their present location to the new site.
Meanwhile, the secretary of the HPC, Gurjeet Singh, while quoting news reports, said that, apart from the land at Mawbah, the government is also scouting for lands in two-three other locations for the relocation.
“After the Urban Affairs department identify the land, they would come up with the proposal to the government,” Singh said.
Singh’s statement came a day after the government informed the Meghalaya High Court that it has prepared a blueprint for allotment of three acres of land near the RP Chest Hospital, Mawbah, for the relocation of 342 families of Harijans’ Colony from Them Iew Mawlong for construction of a multi-storeyed building housing flats for the residents of Harijan Colony.
The secretary of the HPC said that after the government gets the proposal, they would inform the residents. “At this stage nothing can be confirmed about what the government wants to do,” Singh said.
The secretary of the HPC also said that if the government agrees to their terms for relocating, then they are ready to move out of their present location. “The government should fulfill our demands then only we will move out from here,” Singh said.
On April 25, the HPC had agreed to be relocated from the Them Iew Mawlong on the condition that the state government will provide 200 square meters of land to each of the 342 families within the European Ward besides bearing the cost of construction of their homes.
However, there was stiff opposition from several pressure groups against the HPC’s demands and they had even warned that “all hell will break loose” if the state government succumbs to such unacceptable demands. In reply to the HPC’s demands, Tynsong, on April 27, had said that the matter of relocation of residents of Them Iew Mawlong could end up in court for a final verdict if the HPC demands more than the government can accommodate.
The HPC secretary also said that the state government has not informed the residents that it plans to relocate them to Mawbah.