Meghalaya Sweepers’ Colony issue has dragged on too long: says HC

Staff Reporter

Shillong, July 19: The Meghalaya High Court has observed that the issue related to the proposed relocation of the Sweepers’ Colony from Them Iew Mawlong has dragged on for far too long.

Hearing a petition on the matter, the Division Bench said, “Since the state and the respondents are still trying to negotiate an amicable settlement, the court’s interference is not warranted.”

“However, it has been repeated on several occasions that the matter has dragged on for far too long. The matter will appear six weeks hence in the hope that a solution is reached by then,” it added.  

The next hearing will be held on August 30.

On July 3, the Court in its order had slammed the Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) for ‘playing fast and loose’ with the government and the court. “It appears that the respondents are playing fast and loose both with the government and with the Court.”

“A false impression was given on the last occasion that a minor matter had to be attended to but a subsequent statement was made that the Court had misinterpreted the submission,” the bench had then said.

On June 7, the Court in its order had informed that learned Advocate-General reports that Counsel for the Harijan Panchayat Committee has agreed, in principle, to the blueprint prepared by the government but has made some suggestions for modification in certain areas

“Since the State is looking at the suggestions for modification, let the matter come up three weeks hence. It is hoped that the parties will now resolve the long pending issue and give a quietus to these matters,” the Court had then stated.

Subsequent to this, Deputy Chief Minister in-charge Urban Affairs Sniawbhalang Dhar had responded that the government is ready to discuss with the HPC on their request for modification of the blueprint, which seeks to relocate the 342 families of Sweepers’ Colony from Them Iew Mawlong to the existing land of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB).

He however said if the modification sought by the HPC is not feasible then the government will not agree.

The government had come up with a blueprint after rejecting the April 25,2022-proposal of the HPC that 200 square meters of land be provided to each of the 342 families within the European ward besides bearing the cost of construction of their homes.

On August 31, 2022, the state government had announced its decision to construct housing flats at the 2.5 acres of land belonging to the SMB for relocation of the 342 families.

“Now we will demolish the old units and accordingly construct a flat system of 5 or 7 stories as per Meghalaya Development Urban Authority (MUDA) byelaws,” Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong had then informed.

Earlier, the HPC had rejected the blueprint of the government.

In its recent 6-page reply sent to the Deputy Secretary of the Government of Meghalaya and other concerned departments, the HPC had alleged that the proposal of the government was “incomplete, unsuitable, unprepared, unfair and undemocratic.”