The Meghalaya government and representatives of the Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) will hold a final meeting here on May 7 to take a final decision on the modalities for shifting of the residents of Them Iew Mawlong here to an alternative site.
According to sources, the State government will be represented at the meeting by Urban Affairs Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar and senior officials of the Urban Affairs Department and Shillong Municipal Board. The HPC delegation will be led by its secretary Gurjit Singh.
The proposed meeting will finalise the blueprint prepared by the State government for relocating the 342 families from Them Iew Mawlong to the land belonging to the Shillong Municipal Board at Bivar Road here.
Already, the State government has agreed to provide 2.14 acres of land within the existing building of the Shillong Municipal Board to resettle the residents. Additionally, another 1.4 acres of land opposite the Shillong Municipal Board’s building has been included for the purpose. Thus the total area proposed for the relocation is 3.6 acres.
Earlier, the government had rejected the proposal by Harijan Panchayat Committee on April 25, 2022 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 October 2021, the State government took possession of the land measuring 12,444.13 square metres at Sweepers’ Colony after paying Rs 2 crore to the Hima Mylliem as a one-time payment.
This comes after signing of a tripartite lease deed between the government of Meghalaya, the Syiem of Hima Mylliem and Shillong Municipal Board on March 31, 2021.
The State government said that beautification of the area will be done once the residents of the colony are shifted to a new site.
It may be mentioned that several rounds of meeting has been held to find a solution to the relocation issue and even the Meghalaya High Court has directed both the parties to resolve it amicably at the earliest.
