State spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Gregory Shullai, has warned that the proposed Umiam beautification project will only multiply traffic snarls in Shillong.
Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh had recently informed that about 300 acres of Forest and Environment Department land will be used by the state government for the creation of new and improved tourism facilities in the Umiam Lake area.
Lyngdoh had informed that the government is working on an ambitious project to expand facilities, create entertainment zones, and upscale the present accommodation facilities available at the Orchid Lake Resort, owned by the government through the Meghalaya Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC).
“Why destroy our forests to promote commercial tourism?” Shullai said today. “Rather, the GOM (Government of Meghalaya) must first fix our Umiam bridge, expand Umroi airport and regulate Shillong’s traffic snarls. We must create infrastructure for top ecotourism destinations, including other village roads as well, otherwise this Umiam beautification project will only multiply our traffic snarls in Shillong.”
Saying that he has raised several objections to the proposals of the government connected with forestry, the former forestry official said that the greatest beauty that a visitor sees coming up to Shillong is the greenery all around.
“How the government plans to beautify 300 acres of Riat Khwan is incomprehensible. It’s beautiful as it is, its beauty is beyond anything that man can conceive. Therefore anything that we, or the government, might undertake in the area will only spoil the natural beauty that already exists. The worst off, if this plan is implemented, will be the wild animals and the orchids in the area. Barking deer, red jungle fowl, Khaleej pheasants, doves of all kinds, squirrels, etc,” he stated.
Shullai suggested that If the government contemplates creating another tourist spot in the vicinity of the Umiam Lake, the best place would be to take up a project at Lum Diengiei.
