Sweepers’ Colony issue: Meghalaya Govt to invite HPC for talks

Staff Reporter

Shillong, Oct 26: Deputy Chief Minister in-charge of Home (Police) Prestone Tynsong today informed that the State government will invite the Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) next month for discussion on resolving the issue pertaining to the relocation of 342 families of Sweepers’ Colony from Them Iew Mawlong.

“We will have one more meeting with them (HPC). Unfortunately, Puja just came in so hopefully by next month we will be able to call them and sit once and for all and we will submit an affidavit to the court,” Tynsong told reporters.

On September 29, the Meghalaya government had informed the High Court that it has agreed to increase the individual plot sizes as requested by the residents of the Sweepers’ Colony.

With regards to the dilapidated condition of the roads, Tynsong, who is also in charge of PWD (Roads) said, “I have already instructed right from the commissioner & secretary, secretary and the chief engineers of the PWD to now since the dry and working season start be it any to make sure that the repairing and maintenance of road start at the earliest possible.”

On Byrnihat being categorized as the most polluted area in Meghalaya, the deputy chief minister said that he has asked the chief secretary to take up this matter with the Assam counterpart.

“In as far as Byrnihat is concerned, the left side while going to Guwahati is Meghalaya and the right side is Assam. I think you must have seen quite a number of factories all along the right side whereas from our left side we have only a designated industrial estate and we do also have factories but it is well monitored by the MSPCB. As far as Assam is concerned, I have asked the CS to take up this matter with the counterpart Assam to find out ways and means on how to monitor because we can’t go and monitor those factories in Assam which were functioning till now,” he said.

Court to decide on relocation from Sweepers’ Colony

Deputy Chief Minister in-charge Urban Affairs Sniawbhalang Dhar has informed that the state government has filed an affidavit before the Meghalaya High Court with regards to the proposal for relocating the 342 families of Sweepers’ Colony from Them Iew Mawlong.
Dhar told reporters today that now the matter is left to the court to decide.

The minister said that the government will also sit in a few days and take a call on the matter.

According to him, this was after the Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) had rejected the government’s proposal to relocate the Sweepers’ Colony from Them Iew Mawlong to the existing land of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB).

Dhar however said that the government will always welcome the HPC if they want to discuss the matter.

On April 24, the Meghalaya High Court had deferred the hearing on the issue to June 7.

The order was passed by the division bench based on the request made by the state government and the HPC during the hearing held here.
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.

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 government’s proposal was “incomplete, unsuitable, unprepared, unfair and undemocratic.”

The HPC had also stated in its reply that “There are serious lacunae, sweeping and undesirable conclusions in the approach and attitude of the High-Level Committee of the Meghalaya government.”

“We are absolutely devastated that since the formation of the new government, ministers, MLAs and certain groups have been making unnecessary remarks saying that the whole issue would be resolved within the month of April. What magical trick do they have up their sleeve to resolve the issue within days? The matter is sub-judice and they are only paying lip service to respect for the judiciary. We will not buckle under political duress,” it had also added.

Meghalaya NGOs want consistent power failure addressed

The joint action committee (JAC) of three NGOs from Ri-bhoi district which includes Meghalaya People’s Social Organization (MPSO), ka Ri-bhoi Youth Organization (RBYO) and the Meghalaya People’s United Front (MPUF) today met minister in-charge of power A. T Mondal to seek his intervention with regard to alleged consistent power failure in Ri-bhoi district.

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Speaking to media persons, Jackson Sohtun informed that the frequent power cuts in Ri-bhoi district has created a lot of inconvenience to the people of the region, especially to the students who are preparing their respective examination.

Sohtun alleged that the district is experiencing unscheduled timing of power cuts and this has caught the public unaware as there are no notifications from the power department with regard to the timing of loading or power cuts.

“We have met the minister in-charge of power to appraise him with regard to the frequent and unscheduled timing of power cuts which has created a lot of inconvenience to the people of the district,” said Sohtun.

He added that the JAC has urged the minister to look into the matter and to ask the department to come out with some kind of notice on the timing of load shedding for Ri-bhoi district.

Them Iew Mawlong: HPC waiting for govt’s call

The Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) has said that they are waiting for the state government to call for a meeting to discuss the issue related to the relocation of the Sweepers’ Colony from Them Iew Mawlong.

“We are waiting for the government’s call,” HPC secretary Gurjit Singh said.

He however refused to indicate if the committee would submit its reply on the government’s proposal.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong informed that the government would soon fix a meeting with the HPC to further sensitize them on the stand of the government and to also listen to their point of view on the matter.

“We are waiting for the return of the Deputy Chief Minister in-charge urban affairs as we want to convene a meeting with the HPC within this month,” he added.

Tynsong said that he is not aware if the HPC has sent any communication to urban affairs with regards to the reply to the government’s proposal.

On March 16, the state government set a deadline to the HPC for submitting its reply by April 10, with regards to the proposal for relocating of the Sweepers’ Colony from Them Iew Mawlong to the existing land of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB).

The government had also turned down the request of the HPC to give another three months’ time to respond to the proposal.

The decision was also taken following an order of the Meghalaya High Court on February 16, asking the state government to immediately resolve the issue after the Assembly elections.

On September 29, last year the state government presented the blueprint to the HPC during a meeting, which indicated its decision to construct multi-storey flats at the existing official quarters of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) for relocation of the 342 families.

The state government had outrightly rejected 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.