SHILLONG:
Shifting of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) office from its official staff quarters to another temporary location will be completed within two weeks after which relocation of the settlers at Harijan Colony will start.
Official sources said a proposal will be submitted to the state government for sanctioning of funds to renovate the official quarters in order to accommodate the employees of the board.
They, however, said further direction is needed to shift the employees from Harijan Colony or Them Iew Mawlong to the official quarters.
“The Urban Affairs department will have to issue the order for shifting the employees of the SMB and employees of other departments since it is now the owner of the land at Them Iew Mawlong,” an official said.
As per the inventory report submitted by the SMB, 184 employees and their families have been identified as legal settlers.
These include families of 128 employees of the SMB and 56 others who are working in different other government departments.
On October 29 last year, the state government had taken over the land at Harijan Colony after releasing a premium of Rs 2 crore to the Syiem of Hima Mylliem, in its bid to relocate the residents of Harijan Colony.
The takeover of the land measuring 12,444.13 sq m was as per the lease deed of March 31, 2021.
The tripartite lease deed was signed among the state government, Syiem of Mylliem and Shillong Municipal Board.
This was after the state government had decided to implement the recommendations made by the High Level Committee (HLC), which submitted its report on September 28, 2021.
The three main recommendations of the High Level Committee included taking ownership of the land at Harijan Colony, shifting of the employees of the SMB and other departments and relocation of “illegal settlers”.
The HLC was constituted by the state government to find a feasible solution for the relocation of the settlers.