Shillong, Jul 24: The Executive Committee (EC) off the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) has constituted an inquiry committee to probe into the scrapped agreement that declared Law Syiem at Lum Mawpat as ‘Law Adong’ (protected forest).
The agreement to declare the forest as protected was signed on May 22, 2014 but was scrapped by the previous EC in 2019.
EC member in-charge Land and spokesperson Powell Sohkhlet said that the inquiry committee has been given three months time to submit its report.
He said that the three-member committee to be headed by the Joint Secretary Elaka with Deputy Secretary Land and Under Secretary Political Department as members, will also probe into the allegations of MLAs and various departments getting land in the forest.
Sohkhlet said that during the inspection on July 23, the EC discovered erected pillars and cemeteries. Whether these plots were given free of cost or on payment, the committee will probe into these issues, he added.
“Not just the EC, the public also want to protect the forest. The agreement was signed between the then Chief Executive Member Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit and the Syiem of Hima Mylliem Late Latho Manik Syiem was the right step in the right direction,” he said.
According to Sohkhlet, the 2014 agreement decided to have a joint management of the forest between the KHADC and Hima Mylliem and not for the EC to take over the forest.
Sohkhlet pointed out that as per the Sixth Schedule, the mandate of the district council is to conserve forests and protect the environment. He said that conserving the forest would also mean preserving various kinds of plant species used in Khasi traditional medicine system.
