The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) has said that the agreement declaring the Law Syiem at Lum Mawpat as ‘Law Adong’ (prohibited forest) was scrapped in 2019.
Chief Executive Member (CEM), Shemborlang Rynjah carried out a spot inspection of the forest on Wednesday after the Voice of the People Party (VPP) flagged construction activities in the prohibited forest recently.
“In 2019 the KHADC scrapped the declaration of the forest being a protected area and it was handed again to the Hima (Mylliem) as per the records we got,” Rynjah told reporters.
The CEM said that the VPP-led Executive Committee will soon meet to discuss the nitty-gritty of the 2019 scrapped agreement.
He said that the agreement to scrap the status of a prohibited forest was signed by the Syiem of Hima Mylliem and the Myntris.
During the inspection, the KHADC members discovered many pillars erected inside the forest.
“We are still in the dark. This (inspection) is our first step today and the next step will be the EC meeting, wherein we will take a decision on what measure we should take to protect the forest for the benefit of the society,” he said.
The agreement to declare the Law Syiem as protected forest, which has an area of 1700 acres, was signed on May 22, 2014 between the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council and the Syiem of Mylliem.
Last week, the VPP alleged that certain MLAs have been allotted plots of land within Law Mawpat.
The VPP also alleged that the plaque installed to mark the agreement was also removed, the PHE department was given land inside the protected forest and also a road is being constructed which will lead to New Shillong.
