Govt wants to turn Khyndailad into a pedestrian zone
Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh today said that the state government is committed to declaring Khyndailad a pedestrian zone.
“Our commitment will be to have at least one pedestrian zone immediately and that is Khyndailad. I also had a meeting with the Chief Minister and he is fully in line with the need to declare Khyndailad as a pedestrian zone,” Lyngdoh told reporters.
He said some access to local residents which will be on the basis of car passes will be issued but the entire area will be pedestrianized.
He said that the people who suffered most in Shillong are pedestrians as you have hawkers, you have motorists using every way and there is limited scope for people to walk around.
The minister further informed that they have already started declaration of parts of Shillong as no-honking zones.
“We are in the process. The district administration and the police are in constant touch and from the tourism department, we already started by declaring Orchid, Umiam as a no-honking zone and similarly, other units of the tourism department will also be declared as no honking zones because the USP of Meghalaya is the serenity, the quiet which is disturbed by loud honking and loud music which sometimes carries beyond permissible hours,” he added.
Mercury rises to nearly 40 degrees C in NE
People in several states across the northeastern region have been experiencing a change in weather with the mercury hovering around 40 degrees Celsius in many places, Met officials said on Friday.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials in Guwahati and Agartala said that maximum temperatures in many places have been varying between 36 to 40 degrees Celsius, which is 5-6 notches above average for this time of the season.
The weather officials also noted that the minimum temperature in many places hovered between 20 to 23 degrees Celsius — 2-3 notches above the season’s average.
The Met officials said that the maximum temperatures are likely to remain the same for the next 4-5 days.
An IMD bulletin said that light rain is likely to occur in some places in Arunachal Pradesh while the weather is likely to remain dry in Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.
As there has been no rainfall for the past few weeks, a water crisis gripped many parts of the northeast, especially in hilly and remote areas.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the IMD have issued various advisories for farmers and various agri farms to deal with their seasonal crops.
Health authorities also issued advisories asking people to stay guarded against rising temperatures.
(IANS)