Shillong, Nov 11: The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) on Wednesday said that its action on the Shillong Peak Ropeway project is not about claiming the land, but about a private company doing business without a trading licence.
Executive Member in-charge Elaka Affairs, Denzil Chen said the company implementing the Shillong Ropeway project is a private entity.
“Even if that is government land, we have jurisdiction over it. We are not speaking of ownership, we are saying that this is a private company… a non-tribal entity and if it is doing business in a government land, we have the authority, power and jurisdiction to check that they obtain a trading licence,” Chen said.
The KHADC had closed the project site on October 27 on the ground that the company, KEC-TCL (JV), implementing the project had not obtained a trading licence from the Council.
According to the KHADC, two show-cause notices were served to the company, first in May and again in September this year, for operating without a trading licence. However, the company did not obtain an NoC from the authorities to apply for a trading licence.
The closure of the project site was taken under Section 7A of the United Khasi-Jaintia Hills District Trading by Non-Tribals Regulation, 1954 for alleged violation of Section 3 – trading without a licence.
The government rejected the charge. The Tourism Department, which termed the Council’s action inappropriate, later broke open the locks at the project site office.
Chen said the KHADC is examining the legal aspect before raising the matter in the court of law.
