Instead of opening hours restrictions, the authorities would do better to increase police presence on the streets of Shillong at night and expand the coverage of CCTVs, pastor turned politician Kyrsoibor Pyrtuh has said.
He was reacting to the order, since modified, that mandated eateries and other establishments to close by 10pm following an incident of wanton violence in Laitumkhrah last week.
Saying that shutting things down is not the solution, Pyrtuh said that the low number of police is the problem.
“I think it’s imperative for the government to explore possible ways to control violence in the cities. I cannot accept that this (restriction of opening hours) is the solution because how long will you be able to put people inside?” he told Highland Post recently.
In years gone by, police would carry out checks on city streets at strategic points for drunk driving but these appear to have disappeared, Pyrtuh added while also expressing concern that such an order will hit the economy and livelihoods of the people who run small late-night catering businesses.
“There are food vendors who start their businesses in the evening and go on till midnight. In some areas, they run their businesses near hospitals and they not only earn but provide their services to others,” he said, adding that people who arrive in Shillong at night from elsewhere also depend on such services.
Stating that there are people who work two shifts, one until the afternoon and the other into the night to support their families, Pyrtuh said that these things also need to be taken into consideration before the economy runs dry.
“If we cannot manage this old city, how will we manage it in the next decade or two when Shillong becomes a full blown metropolis?”
On the other hand, if young people want Shillong to be at par with other towns in the country, young people also have to take responsibility to behave within the law, he opined. One problem to do with this is that legal avenues take too long to prosecute bad behaviour.
“Whether you talk about whatever crime, like rape case involving a child, molestation or stabbing incidents, the prosecution is not fast and proper as per the law.”
